poke it with a stick. critiques

BOOKS. eureka: brain box blues

2011-04-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

a few years a go, when the tv show eureka first premiered, i thought id give it a try. i really loved it! the show is about a sharriff who works in the town of eureka, a scientific sort of utopia where the government has holed away thousands of scientists in this small town, and they have come up with amazing technolocial advances. the characters are a ton of fun, especially sherriff carter, the main character. he's really the only sane one in this town full of crazy scientists! having watched the show for the past four seasons, i decided to give the books a try.
'brain box blues' is about a strange invention that can supposedly see the last memories of someone who died. the story starts with a top secret case and they need to see what the last memories were of an important government official who was recently killed. its up to the scientists at global dynamics to get the information out of the box and make some sort of sense of it. of course, the purpose for getting these memories is kept under wraps until it becomes more and more obvious that there are some hidden motives behind the information being harvested.
the story itself is pretty good, it plays like a big episode of the show. it was fun to read all the different characters, who the author does a great job of recreating. the different actions and events are true to the show and its attitudes. a quick and fun read!

COMEDY. colin quinn: long story short

2011-04-23T08:59:00.000-07:00

the latest stand up special from colin quinn takes a very different approach to the old 'stand there and tell jokes' formula that most comedians use. instead of just stories and jokes following no particular pattern, quinn tackles one subject matter for the whole duration of his show. granted, the topic is pretty big: the history of the world! this structure is really well done as quinn, with the assistance of photos and animation on the screen behind him, goes through all of recorded history and takes a critical look at whats gone wrong and whats gone right, all the while adding his own hilarious two cents! he starts with cave men, jumps to the greek and roman empires, then in to christendom, finally traveling around the world visiting each continent and giving his perspective on their respective histories. quinn does a fantastic job of playing the history teacher- in fact, if it wernt for all the bad language, this thing could almost be shown in schools! my only real experience with quinn was his role as saturday night live's weekend update anchor, and i was very pleasantly surprised at how funny and clever he really is! and he's pretty good at accents from around the world too! all in all this is a pretty impressive stand-up show, i enjoyed it so much that i plan to watch it again soon!

TV. camelot

2011-04-09T07:09:00.000-07:00

i'm not particularly drawn to the legend of king arthur, but my wife loves that kind of stuff, so we decided to watch the new camelot show on starz. i have almost no knowledge of the legend itself other than the most basic of information: arthur was a king, he had a round table with knights, a cool sword, a strange magician merlin, and some creepy chick who lives in a lake. other than that, i dont really know anything about it, so watching this show will be learning a completely new mythology. in the first episode we see the king killed by his daughter morgan who then tries to take the throne, but merlin reveals that the king has a son who has been in hiding for the past twenty years. merlin then makes work of getting the hidden son, arthur, to accept his true fate of becoming the king of england. the story wasnt all that interesting to me, but as the episode reached its climax and arthur begins to take the role of king and fight against those who oppose him it started getting good. i can honestly say that i dont know where the story will go from here, but it should be fun to find out!

BOOKS. stargate sg-1: the cost of honor (book 5)

2011-03-30T14:46:00.001-07:00

this stargate novel is a continuation of 'a matter of honor'. the story left off with our gang getting the technology they needed to try and save an sg team that they had left behind years ago. the team had been left behind in a world that was collapsing into a black hole. the black hole had effected the planet so much that time itself had slowed. it had been four years since sg-1 left that planet, but to the team that was there it had only felt like an hour. now that sg-1 has the technology (though some uncharacteristically shady means) to go back and rescue them, they try to get the go-ahead from hammond. he is facing a tough time from some officials due to their plan with the planet sg-1 had gotten the technology from, so he is not officially allowed to let them go on the mission to save the lost sg team. but they go anyway and save most of the lost team. but the machine they had gotten broke and they too were effected by the time stream of the black hole and when they get back many months have passed at they must face the repercussions of their disobeying commands. hammond is gone because he let them go save the lost team, and how the sg-1 team is in big trouble because of how they got the technology that broke. it was a great story with tons of action and good characterizations. we really get to see how much it effected jack and hammond that they broke protocol and did things they werent supposed to do. a very good finale to the first book. well done.

GAMES. dice wars

2011-03-19T09:05:00.000-07:00

dear dice wars, please give me my life back. one of my buddies showed this to me a few months ago. he sent me a link to a flash game that he had been enjoying. i gave it a try and became instantly hooked! the game is basically the board game 'risk', which is a personal favorite of mine! growing up i always loved playing risk with my big brother, he would always beat me, but i loved playing anyway! dice wars is just like risk except you wont find little plastic figures in the vacuum for the next three weeks! i'm going to share the link, but i'm warning you: only click on it if you have a few hundred hours to kill! it will suck away all your free time, like it has with me. click at your own risk (get it? risk? ha!) here.

BOOKS. stargate sg-1: a matter of honor (book 3)

2011-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

the third book in the long series of novels based on the stargate sg-1 tv show, 'a matter of honor' is the first book in a two part story. the story is actually based on the events of one of the episodes of the tv show. in that show, the sg-10 team gets stuck on a world that is being sucked into a black hole. the interesting thing about that is the black hole has slowed down the time on that planet so even though this story takes place five years after the team was lost, only an hour or so has passed for the sg-10 team. jack's dedication to the military philosophy of 'no man left behind' is what drives this story. the sg-1 team finds itself on a planet where our government is trying to barter a trade with the local inhabitants in order to get some of their more advanced technology for ourselves. the sg-1 team and general hammond dont feel that we need this technology and are trying to end the trade. while on the planet, they realize that it houses one of baal's fortresses that has another technology that they might be able to use to save the lost sg-10 team. our four intrepid heroes do everything they can to get this baal technology, including going against direct orders from general hammond.
this story is really well written by sally malcolm. the characters are perfectly captured and think and act in a way that fits what we have known about them for so many years on the show. one of the big plot points is how jack o'neill deals with being in baal's fortress again. last time he was there he was tortured and killed, resurrected, and killed again, ad nausium. the author has a fantastic grasp on what is going on in o'neills head during their trip to retrieve the technology from this place with so many bad memories for him. it was a great read, and i am eager to read the next one to finish the story! these stargate sg-1 novels just keep getting better and better!

TV. spatacus: blood and sand

2011-01-03T08:59:00.001-08:00

we currently have the starz channels on tv, and they have recently been replaying the entire season of 'spartacus: blood and sand'. i thought i would give it a shot, so we recorded the whole 13 episode season. knowing that the super graphic violence probably wouldnt be diana's thing, i began watching them by myself. after about two episodes, diana became curious about it and wanted to give it a try. we watched the third episode together and she got hooked! sure, the violence is really graphic and outrageously over the top, but she said it was cartoony enough that she was ok with it. oh, one other disclaimer: there is an absurd amount of nudity in it as well... anyway, the story follows a man who goes in to battle and makes an alliance with the roman army to help defeat his nation's enemies. when rome decides to go after another army instead, he and his people back out of the alliance. well, the roman general doesnt like that too much and the man is caught and turned into a slave, as is his wife. they are separated, and the man is thrown into the arena to die by the gladiators hands. he doesnt die, and instead defeats the four gladiators, becoming a new hero to the audience in the arena. he is sold to a gladiator trainer and must prove himself worthy of the gladiator brotherhood. as the story unfolds during the 13 episode season, we see spartacus earn his new name, make friends and enemies in the training grounds, and his master's attempt to enter the political arena. all the stories are incredibly well written and the acting is quite good all around. though this show obviously started as a '300' clone, its depth and scale quickly outgrows those shackles and it becomes an amazing spectacle all its own!

TV. party down

2011-01-03T08:58:00.001-08:00

i had heard good things about this little show on starz but had never seen it before. well, over new years they had a marathon of all the episodes, season 1 and season 2, so i thought id give it a shot. turns out that its really funny! diana and i zipped through all 20 episodes in one sitting! the show follows a group of caterers who serve food at different events, and shows their lives unfolding and interacting. the set up is a lot of fun, each episode is about the caterers at a different event, it may be a birthday party, or a picnic, or even backstage at a rock concert. the fun is how these six characters interact and hassle each other and those that are at the parties. the show is done is the same way as something like 'curb your enthusiasm' where there is a lot of improve going on- and its always hilarious! all the characters are wannabe actors who are just working as caterers until they land their big break (like thats going to happen...), except the main character, henry. he had his big break in a beer ad, even had his own catchphrase, but his career stalled out from there and he retreated back to the catering job giving up acting for good. while there he falls for a coworker and has to deal with the boss who takes his job way too seriously. the interplay of the different actors is hilarious. my favorite of the bunch was the wannabe writer who is always working on his hard sci-fi masterpiece and gets pissed at anyone who doesnt understand his ways. unfortunately the show was cancelled after its second season, so there wont be any more episodes coming, but what they did for those two seasons was fantastic to watch!

MAGAZINES. wizard

2010-12-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

since i was about 10 years old i have loved comic books. in junior high and high school i was an avid collector. during the comic book boom of the 90's there were a bunch of magazines devoted to comic books that i read. the best of the best, though, was wizard magazine. you could pick up an issue and read it for hours learning all about the comic book industry, read interviews with creators and artists, find out about little known independent comics, as well as check out the price guide in the back. i spent so much time reading this magazine through out the years, loving every minute of it! as i went off to college i lost touch with the comic book world but would still periodically pick up the latest issue of wizard and find out what had been going on in the industry. this past summer my buddies and i, as is our annual tradition, went to the comic book convention in chicago. well, on the website for the convention was an offer to buy a ticket for the con in advance and receive a free 1 year subscription to wizard magazine. i took advantage, remembering how much i enjoyed the magazine all those years ago. well, after receiving the magazine for the past few months i have been heartbroken by just how far it has sank since the heyday of my youth. the magazine really shouldnt even be called 'wizard' anymore, it doesnt resemble its old self at all! no longer is it a magazine for comic books, now its about movies, tv and toys. oh, and sometimes theres a little article about comic books. it obviously has been hit hard by the decline of the magazine market. what once was a hulking 300-350 page issue has now been degraded into a 75 page pamphlet. where once there were long interviews and in depth looks at comic books, there are how pages and pages of huge images with barely a couple paragraphs per page. what once took me weeks to read, i now flip through in about 4 minutes. thats not due to lack of interest, that simply had to do with lack of content! all this once mighty publishing great has become is a pale imitation of entertainment weekly. but with less articles... they must really be struggling too because the amount of advertisements has exploded! in this last issue its gotten so bad that they have even put a paid advertisement on the cover! seriously?!? and the tron article featured on the front is only three pages long. back in the day it would not have been unusual for a cover article to be 10-15 pages. lame. even though i got this subscription for free, but i still feel like i want my money back.

BOOKS. stargate sg1: sacrifice moon (book 2)

2010-10-29T16:53:00.000-07:00

ah, now this is what i was hoping these stargate books would be like! after starting the book series at number one, i was a bit disappointed with the first entry, 'trial by fire'. this one is much much better! the fun thing about these different books is that they can be set in whatever season the author wants. this particular book takes place near the beginning of the first season, when the sg-1 team was still trying to get to know each other and try to get the hang of the whole 'visiting other worlds' thing. the team finds themselves on a planet that seems to be similar to ancient rome. the arrive and find themselves it a bit of trouble. they are sent off through the gate to another world where the goddess of the moon rules. while there they discover that all those who are sent to this world are brought to play a deadly game where some are the hunters and others are the prey. the story line itself was pretty good, i kept thinking i knew where it was going to go, but then surprised by some of the twists and turns it took. the best part of the book though wasnt the storytelling, rather it was the interesting and insightful characterizations of the four members of sg-1. julie fortune, the author of the book, did a wonderful job of digging in to the characters and really showing what was going on in their heads, something that the show itself is never able to do. we get a great look at how and why these four work so well together, and get a sense of what keeps them together for all the years they travel through the stargate together. a great read. it makes me really excited to read more in the series!

BOOKS. stargate sg1: trial by fire (book 1)

2010-10-29T16:52:00.001-07:00

i've recently begun reading stargate sg-1 novels, so i thought i'd start at the beginning with the first of the series. its been a very long time since i read a book based on a tv show (back in high school i read a couple x-files books that were pretty bad) so i wasnt too sure if they would be any good. they have published more than 15 stargate sg-1 novels so far and they dont seem to be slowing down at all, so they must be pretty good, right? well, it turns out that the first one in the series is pretty bad.
the book follows the sg-1 team as they investigate a new planet with two warring factions. the story is rather poorly written in that there were quite a few long passages where i didnt exactly know what was going on. the action and events are muddled and poorly written, with the stargate team itself doing things that are not in character for how they would really react. the show has 10 years worth of episodes, so there is a really really strong foundation of character traits and personalities that are set out. also, there are some pretty basic rules that the team has followed on all 200 plus episodes that this book quickly throws out the window in the first pages. one major problem with the book is that the team takes a normal person from our world, a professor, and brings her through the gate with them. this would have never happened no matter how knowledgeable they think someone might be about a particular culture. never! yet here they are bringing a civilian with them. and to top it off, the character is really really annoying! every scene of the book that the professor was in was hard to get through. there are times where she is in danger and i was actively rooting for o'neil to just let her die! the final resolution for the book was pretty vapid and didnt play much part in the set-up that had been created over the former 200 pages.
over all, a terrible start to the novel series, but i'm willing to try again on the next novel. fortunately there are different writers that take over the series, so as long as sabine c. bauer stays away from novelized stargate, then i'm sure i will enjoy them!

GAMES. metroid pinball

2010-05-25T18:20:00.000-07:00

i have recently been going through a renaissance with my nintendo ds. i had it put away for about a year or two, never playing it at all. but recently i found it gain and have been enjoying it a lot! ive been going through some of the old games i have for it and playing them all again. some of them are still really fun, but others i just cant get into. one of my favorites at the moment is metroid prime pinball. i really love pinball games, so i got this one a few years ago. i have no real interest in metroid, having never played any of the other games. as someone who is new to the metroid universe, i wasnt exactly sure what was going on most of the time. there were a bunch of characters and levels that i did not recognize, so if they were homages to different things from different games, it was all lost on me... anyway, the more i play it the more i like it! as far as pinball games go, this one is pretty good! i've been having a lot of fun traveling from world to world with the ball and even finding the level boss. after many many nights of playing i was able to actually defeat him and have an absolutely huge amount of points! metroid prime pinball it a blast, but nothing quite compares to my absolute love of the old pokemon pinball game for the original game boy!

TV. riverworld

2010-04-27T10:19:00.000-07:00

i am almost always up for a sci-fi mini series. almost. this one was not really advertised much at all when it was on the syfy channel, and after seeing it, i can understand why. its based on a series of books written by phillip jose farmer. i am unfamiliar with that series, but here is what it was made into:
we meet the main character as he is about to propose to his girlfriend, then a huge explosion seems to kill them all. but instead of dying, they are taken to an alternate universe where they wash ashore of a river. the girlfriend is gone, but the main character matt ellman, played by battlestar galactica alum Tahmoh Penikett, is now on a quest to figure out what happened and how he can get his girl back. as things unfold we come across some different characters from different times. one of the guys ellman must fight against is the conquistador pizzaro. and somewhere along the way they meet up with samuel clemens as well (thats mark twain, in case you forgot what his real name is). all the while there is some strange goings on with some robed blue people. i'm not really sure what they are all about, but one of them, played by alan cumming, seems to be helping them. all of this sounds interesting at first, but none of it is done in a way that makes much sense or has any sort of dramatic weight.
its apparent that the syfy channel did not like it either since it was obviously meant to be a four episode miniseries that they quickly played out in two nights, about as under the radar as they could get... its too bad, there is some spark of a good story here, but none of it is done well.

BOOKS. abraham lincoln, vampire hunter

2010-03-08T15:03:00.001-08:00

i havent read this one or anything, just merely saw that it exists, and i must say that i am really interested in it! first, i love me some abe lincoln! second, the premise is that the southern army was filled with vampires and lincoln is on a quest to kill them all, thats the cause of the civil war. wow, that sounds amazing! i just hope its as good as the version in my head!

TV. macgyver season 6

2010-01-31T15:41:00.001-08:00

ive always loved macguyver. i remember watching the show when it used to be on, but i was a bit young to remember it very well. i just so happen to be at the used movie place and saw season six of macguyver on the shelf for only ten bucks. well, i figured it was worth ten bucks to relive my childhood a little bit, so i got it. one night, with nothing else to do, i convinced diana to watch an episode with me. i feared that it would be pretty bad and not hold up very well, but i was pleasantly surprised with how fun it was to rewatch all these years later! i know its a bit unconventional to start a show at season six, but thats the only one the movie place had, so thats where we began! one of the things that everyone remembers most about macguyver is how he could get out of anything, or fix anything, with the most random of things! well, by the time they got to season six, they must have used up most of their good ideas, because there isnt much of that in these episodes. theres about once or twice per episode that he needs to get himself out of a jam, but the contraptions are not very intricate or believable. it seems by this point in the series it was more focused on sharing a positive message. the season starts with an episode deriding gang violence, and continues through out the season with episodes dedicated to teen drinking, environmental abuse, and even an episode about glaucoma. the episodes are still a bunch of fun to watch, partly for the 80's flashbacks, and partly because they still tell good stories. well, diana and i enjoyed them so much that we have since picked up season one so we can start from the beginning!

BOOKS. a wrinkle in time

2010-01-31T15:35:00.000-08:00

i remember this book always catching my eye when i was in school, but i never actually read it. well, recently i came across a free copy of it (which even had the cover i remembered from junior high!), so i dug in to see if it was any good. the story follows a young girl as she begins to notice strange things going on around her. her father went missing years ago and her little brother is a bit of a strange little genius. the two kids, and one other who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, get swooped away to another dimension. they are given advice and told that they need to go and try to save their dad who has been locked away by the evil bad guys for years. as they take their journey they stumble upon many different worlds and dimensions that boggle the mind. eventually they arrive at the planet that their dad is at. everything is a bit askew here. everyone must follow certain rules of behavior that are exceedingly strict. the little brother gets taken and brainwashed by the bad guys. now the two kids have to save dad and the little brother! its an interesting story, and i can see why kids would love it, but i was pretty disappointed by the ending. it was a good set-up, with interesting twists and turns and good characterizations, but the final resolution was pretty lame. its one of those where 'love is the answer' and can solve all problems. boring! that resolution often feels like a cop out, and with this book it certainly was. the situation they were in was dire and destined to be a great showdown, but then it all falls apart when they begin to go in to platitudes about how 'love makes humans special and unique'. maybe i'm a bit too old and too jaded to be reading this book, but i found it to be pretty bad at the end.

TV. alice

2009-12-09T19:57:00.000-08:00

every year or so the syfy channel has a special movie event where they reimagine an old classic but with a new sci fi twist. last year they gave the update treatment to 'the wizard of oz', it was called 'tin man'. i gave it a try, but after about the first hour i realized that i didnt care for it that much, so i gave up and didnt bother with the other five hours. when the syfy channel started promoting this years offering, i didnt really give it a second thought, but diana saw the ad and thought it looked cool. so, needless to say, we watched it! this reimagining of 'alice in wonderland' takes the original tale and imagines what it would be like 150 years later in wonderland. now, i must admit, i am at a bit of a disadvantage here, i've never read the book and i dont think i've ever seen the old disney movie either. to be honest, i have no idea what 'alice in wonderland' is about. i just know the characters but have no idea what they do in the story. so i guess i am not really the ideal audience for this two part movie. as we were watching it diana had to explain a few things and she kept pointing out how something that was in the movie was a twist on the original story. i'm glad she did, because i would have had no idea at all! even though i didnt know the story at all, i still enjoyed it quite a bit. many of the characters were very well done, especially the white knight, he was my favorite. they did a good job of creating some interesting visuals- especially the city with its high views and grassy walkways between skyscrapers. the fun for me was in recognizing many of the different cast members and placing them with the syfy shows they are usually on!

WEBSITES. exergian tv art

2009-12-02T14:31:00.000-08:00

jeffry lee showed me this one, its a graphic artist who uses simple shapes and colors to represent different television shows. he takes a bunch of tv shows and boils them down into the simplest image he can in order to convey the ideas of the show. its very minimalistic, and awesome! as someone who actually took a bunch of graphic design classes and majored in art in college, i've got to admit that these are really impressive! its one thing to try and create art that portrays and idea, but quite another to be able to get that same idea through such simple shapes! some of my favorite are 'stargate: sg1' (of course), 'kojak', 'home improvement', 'monk', 'knight rider', and 'mad men'. the simplicity is what really makes these images so powerful- and accurate! check it out here.

TV. robin hood season 3

2009-11-30T14:55:00.000-08:00

looks like i was right last year. in the climactic final episode of last season, robin hood and his men went to the holy land to find the king and let him know how poorly the sherriff has been doing. the episode ended with maid marian dying. at that time i was frustrated (as you can see here) and wondering where they could possibly go from there. it was obvious to me that the show jumped the shark at that moment, and it turns out i was right. all this season has been pure crap. they have really been grasping at straws, as far as story goes. they introduced another love interest, which is not nearly as interesting as maid marian, they killed off the sherriff (which i'm certain is only temporary), and now guy of gisbourne is working along side robin and his merry men? stupid stupid stupid. the writers wrote themselves into a corner last year, probably assuming that they wouldnt get picked up for a third season, and it turns out that they shouldnt have been picked up! every episode this year has been in stark contrast to the two previous seasons. no one is acting like themselves, and the main plot has been long since lost. it really is a shame to see a good show go so horribly wrong. there's only about three or four more episodes this season, lets hope that they finally put this dog out of its misery and dont have a fourth season- please! either way, i'm done watching it, thats for sure!

BOOKS. diary

2009-11-28T13:24:00.000-08:00

this book haunts me. ever since i've read it, it haunts me. the book follows the life of a woman who lives on a little touristy island where she works at the local hotel. her husband is living on life support in the hospital and she and she must try to make sense of all the strange things that have been happening and why everyone has been acting so weird. sounds pretty basic, huh? i expected a lot when i read this, it is, after all, written by the same guy who write 'fight club'! as i was reading it, the whole thing just seemed disjointed and not very interesting. i got to the end and was confused by it all. i set it down and a week past. thats when it happened: i kept thinking about the book, the little details and the parts of the story that didn't seem to fit right away. i couldnt stop thinking about it. then it hit me! the whole picture suddenly came into focus, all the odd parts and all the confusing parts, they suddenly melded together and i saw what palahniuk had done! when it hit me i actually had to sit down! the sheer power and brilliance of the tale he wove took me a while to process, but now that i had, i realized the sheer genius of it! i would love to give examples of it, but i would never want to give away anything to someone who might read it- i wouldnt want to steal that moment of revelation from anybody.
still, all these months later, it haunts me...

TV. V

2009-11-27T20:16:00.000-08:00

diana and i were really excited for this show. well, we werent excited until we spend a day watching the old V miniseries (as i write about here), but after investing in the old show, we got really pepped up for this new one! turns out we got our hopes up for nothing. after watching the pilot episode i was really disappointed. many of the moments i was excited to see recreated were just quickly glossed over. when the aliens arrive in the old series it was a major event, it had impact. there was speculation of what might come of it and how to deal with that first contact- there was some real drama. on this new version the arrival and contact are whipped through before the first commercial break! so much for drama... the old one was poorly written and poorly acted, but it was riveting. this new one has the same writing and acting, but there is nothing there to draw me in. there is a new twist thrown in: the idea that there have actually been aliens living among us that have been lying in wait. unfortunately it isnt very interesting, or well done. we watched the second episode, but neither of us really cared at all by that point. its too bad knowing that juliet had to die for this. (that was a 'lost' reference). we never bothered with the third or forth episodes, and now with it off the air until march, neither of us will miss it in the slightest. disappointing, really.

TV. the prisoner

2009-11-15T14:02:00.000-08:00

i have never seen the original tv series, nor did i know anything about it when i began watching this reimagining of the concept on amc. i just saw the cast, jim caviezel and ian mackellen, and i knew it would be worth the ride.
the story is quite confusing, but i think thats part of its appeal. we are dropped in, along with our hero, named number six, into a desert. he eventually stumbles upon a small town filled with people who have numbers for names. everything seems normal at first, but soon he realized that this town, run by number two, has no way out. as six tries to find ways out, he remembers more and more little bits of memories about life outside the town. over the course of the six hour miniseries, six has many things to distract him. first he spends all his time trying to get out, he is side tracked by a man who claims to be his brother. later he strangely finds himself an agent working for the very man who he is trying to escape from. also, he is continually distracted by a woman who tries to help him (or is that hurt him?).
the story played out very well as six claims he doesnt belong here and does everything he can to get out. it sounds so straight forward, but there are so many strange things that happen along the way. sometimes we are uncertain if a scene is real, or just part of a hallucination, which makes it much harder to put all the pieces together. having finished the miniseries, i'm not sure that i know exactly what was going on, but it was really fun to watch. the story just drags you in and mesmerizes- i didn't understand it, but i really liked it!

BOOKS. the terminal man

2009-11-15T13:55:00.000-08:00

i had read this one before, back when i first discovered michael crichton back in junior high, but i didnt remember it very well so i thought i would revisit the story. its a fairly short novel about a man who suffers violent blackouts that lead to him doing terrible things. he is a prime candidate for a new medical procedure that would try to cure him of his violent behavior. the blackouts happen when he starts to get mad, he then goes on violent rampages that he doesnt remember and cant control. the procedure involves putting something in his brain that would trigger his pleasure sensor when ever he started getting too angry, which would cause a happy and peaceful feeling to sooth him down and stop the attack before it got started. the problem is that he soon becomes addicted to this pleasure and tries to get it whenever he can. well, something happens to the sensor and he breaks out of the lab. a pretty interesting story that follows the addictive quest to find pleasure. the story isnt very deep, but the implications of addiction, rage, and identity are thoughtfully discussed. another great book by crichton!

TV. V original mini-series

2009-11-07T18:13:00.000-08:00

with all the hype and hoopla around right now with the relaunch of 'V', i kind of wanted to watch the original mini-series. low and behold, the syfy channel must have read my mind! the sunday before the relaunched show premiered, syfy was showing both original miniseries' in a row. i tivo'ed them, planning to watch them at some point. sunday afternoon diana took poco out for a walk, so i started watching the first one. when she came back i kept watching. she picked up a magazine to read, but after about ten minutes she put it down and instead was just as hooked on the miniseries as i was!
syfy actually rebroadcast the original miniseries as well as the second miniseries. it ended up being a little over ten hours of 'V', but i was really fun to take it all in at one time! the story is a killer one: aliens come to earth, they promise us peace and try to get us to work with them. as the story unfolds, we begin to see that their motives might not necessarily be as pure as they had let on. the amazing this about the original miniseries is just to see how bad it really was. the acting is stiff, the writing is clunky, and the effects are laughable. but for some reason, it still really good! i think its just such a great concept and starting point, that it succeeded in spite of itself! now, after watching the originals, we are ready for the undated version!

TV. stargate universe

2009-10-05T15:11:00.000-07:00

i am a huge stargate fan, so when i heard they were making a third show i was very excited. this new entry into the stargate cannon is quite a bit different than the last two, stargate sg-1 and stargate atlantis. this one doesnt feel like its a syndicated show filmed in vancouver, which can be good, but can also be bad. its bad in that its leaving the old formula that has worked for over a decade, but its also good in that its leaving the old formula that has worked for over a decade! the style of the show has definitely taken its cue from battlestar galactica, giving it more of an intimate handheld camera feel. the story follows a random group of people who unexpectedly find themselves on an ancient spaceship traveling the farthest reaches of the galaxy. they dont have any control over the ship, and they dont know where they are. the crew (if you can really call them that) is lead by colonel young (justin louis), but is often at the mercy of the only man who is able to figure out how to work things on the ship, dr. rush (played by robert carlyle). these two guys are at odds because young wants to run it like a military operation, but rush cant be bothered with such protocols. the people stuck on the ship are made up of half military soldiers, and half regular civilians, which leads to a lot of problems. so far the season seems to be taking its time with setting up the characters and their relationships as they try to cope with the fact that they may never return home again. its a promising start, even though they have really only used the namesake of the show, the stargate itself, only once or twice. its quite a bit different than i expected, but i think it is a worthy addition to the stargate family. i look forward to the rest of the season and what lies ahead (which will hopefully include some aliens!!!)

COMEDY. ricky gervais

2009-09-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

ricky gervais is a really funny guy. in this special he goes all to the wall and rips apart americans and all the stupid things we do. he doesnt just give us a go, but he turns it back on himself quite often. pretty funny, but nothing very memorable. he can tell a great story, but i think his stuff is better when its situational, like in the british 'the office', or his other show, 'extras'.

WORDS. the interrobang

2009-09-21T14:54:00.001-07:00

i'm not entirely sure how or why i came across this, but i recently found this strange little grammar anomaly. its a punctuation mark that is meant to be an exclamation point and a question mark. strange. in the official rules of grammar it is not allowed to have more than one exclamation point at the end of a sentence. so when ever anyone ends a sentence like this: 'he said what?!?' it is improper grammar. instead, you are supposed to use the interrobang. huh. will the wonders of the english language ever cease?!?

TV. 2009 emmys

2009-09-21T14:24:00.000-07:00

the emmys were on last night, hosted by neil patrick harris. i'm always a sucker for award shows (and love nph on 'how i met your mother'), so i tuned in hoping it would be good show and barney would do a good job hosting. i was not disappointed! there were a few changes this year, including the fact that almost no one expected to win won, which always keeps things lively. nph started things off with a little song and dance number about how everyone should make sure they watch and 'put down the remote'. it was a fun intro and played to nph's strengths. they also started with the best categories, in my opinion: the comedy awards. there were quite a few surprises here with not all the awards going to '30 rock', as was expected. unfortunately, my favorite, jim parsons from 'big bang theory' did not win. maybe next time.

one of the best additions of the show was the color commentary from john hodgson, the daily show's resident expert. as the winner walked up to accept the award he would briefly speak about that person making random comments about them that werent necessarily true- very funny! another bit that i really loved was when nph would introduce the presenters he would not reference their most well known role, but rather cite a very random bit role that they had played in, for example when jon cryer came on to present an award, nph referred to him as 'photographer number four in 'my two dads'.' or something equally absurd.

my big question for the night, though, is this: why do they have so many awards for the movie/mini-series category?!? who really cares?!? no one watched those! why must we waste 45 minutes of the telecast to that stuff? oh, and that 'dancing with the stars' tribute was completely worthless. good thing nph did such a great job of keeping it moving that it was easy to overlook such timewasters. in fact, the whole show was only about five minutes over their time- amazing!

anyway, hopefully there were enough people watching this year for cbs to renew its contract with the emmys to show it again next year, because if not, it will most likely be banished to bravo or lifetime i'm sure...

BOOKS. the shack

2009-09-04T21:59:00.000-07:00

this story follows a spiritual man who recently lost his daughter in a while camping. the family was playing in the water when a man came by and kidnapped her. since the event he has struggled with forgiving himself for not being there to save her, and also questions God about why it happened. while trying to deal with a spiritual crisis of faith, he decides to find some time alone and goes to a cabin his friend offers as a way to get away for a while. while there he has the most amazing experience: God shows up. now he can ask God directly why did this happen. the book deals with these conversations in an interesting manner, but it quickly becomes apparent that the 'God' he talks with is not the traditional God of Christianity, but rather some sort of 'spiritual' god that bares little resemblance to the God of the Bible. the story is well told and we really feel for what this man is going through, dealing with the loss and guilt of a dead child, but the doctrine is far from Christian.

TV. you are what you eat

2009-08-06T08:22:00.001-07:00

diana and i recently came across this little british gem. its a show on bbc america, hosted by gillian mckeith, that tries to help overweight people get healthy again. it starts with showing how badly the people have been eating, in fact they make a list of all the foods that person has eaten in the last week and then puts all of it on one table for them to see. usually the person is rather disgusted by it because it always contains much more terrible food then they would have thought- and not much fresh food at all. gillian then gives them an eight week regime of healthy foods and exercise. we peek in on them a couple times over the eight weeks, and at the end of the episode we see the results. almost without fail, the person looses 30-50 pounds!
the show was on twice a day over the summer, so diana and i tivoed all the episodes we could! after watching them for a little while we got motivated to eat healthier foods ourselves and are in the process of loosing weight as well. one little thing about the show that i really loved was the british weight measurement they would use: they measure their weight in stones. apparently a 'stone' equals 14 pounds, and every time they would talk about their weight it would always be in stone. for example if someone weighted 300 pounds, they would say that they weigh 21 stone 6. cool! well, diana happened to look at the back of our scale and found that it had a setting to measure in stone! awesome!!! we have been weighing ourselves in stone ever since!

TV. eureka

2009-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

ah, a fun summer diversion. this series on the syfy network is loads of fun, it follows a small town sheriff as he tries to deal with the little problems that arise in eureka. the only problem is that eureka is a small town filled with scientific geniuses who are creating crazy futuristic stuff and doing the strangest experiments ever! each week there is a new experiment gone haywire that they have to deal with, everything from a landing space ship, to a haunted piece of ice. the great part of the show is the fact that it doesnt take it self seriously at all, which helps with the unbelievable situations they find themselves in. colin ferguson plays the local sheriff as he tries to deal with all the nut jobs, government conspiracies, and hardest of all: a teenage daughter. colin does a great job of playing it all off like he's seen it before, making wise cracks the whole time. he's kind of like the jack o'neil of eureka. and if you actually understood that reference, then you are probably already watching this fun show...

TV. warehouse 13

2009-08-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

the sci-fi channel (sorry, its 'syfy' now...) tries it's hand at another original series. i gave this one a try because i have been impressed with most of their other shows. ranging from 'stargate sg1', to 'battlestar galactica', to 'eureka', i have typically enjoyed the scripted shows on this network.
this one is about a couple of new agents recently assigned to the middle of nowhere. now they have to work in a place called 'warehouse 13'. its a huge storage area for all things strange, weird, and unexplained. the two of them go out and hunt down objects with powers we dont yet understand. they get them and bring back the objects to the warehouse where they are catalogued and stored until they know what to do with them.
the season started slowly (not necessarily a bad thing), but has since picked up. the two main agents are pretty fun, they have a great chemistry together, playing off each other well. the highlight of the show, though, is definitely the guy who runs the warehouse, he tells them where to go and what to look for. the show does a good job of balancing out the sci fi mythology stuff with a lighthearted sense of humor that all the characters share. each week the show gets more interesting, so i think i will keep watching!

TV: virtuality

2009-07-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

its too bad that fox dumped this one, because this is a really good story. fox aired this two hour 'movie' recently, but its not really a movie, it was a pilot for a new television series by the creator of the 'battlestar galactica' reboot on sci-fi. fox must have paid for the pilot to be made but then canned the show, figuring they wanted to get something for the money they spent, they aired the pilot even though there is no show coming. the story is that of a crew on a deep space mission that has recently left earth, it is filled with many different types of people and each of them has an interesting story to tell. the crew is, apart from being on a mission to find a new inhabitable planet, also on a reality show. the company behind the mission used that as a way to pay for the trek. so we get to see these crew members going about their ship activities, and we also get to have interviews with them explaining what they are thinking, like a reality show. also, in order to allow the crew members some r and r, each of them has a virtual reality helmet that they can wear which takes them to a holodeck type fantasy. as they crew gets closer and closer to the point of no return, bad things keep happening. the vr helmets start to have mysterious visions, the doctor is diagnosed with an incurable disease, and the captain is mysteriously killed. with no way to turn back, the remaining crew must do the best they can. all this makes for a really interesting premise for a continuing show, but unfortunately, instead we get a great start with no chance of ever seeing where their stories will lead. way to go fox, you totally ruined another great sci-fi show that could have been.

TV. hollywood's best directors

2009-07-14T13:53:00.000-07:00

i recently came across this show on the reelz channel. after watching a half dozen episodes, i must say that i really enjoy it! the format is pretty standard, a well known director talks about his films. but here's the part that makes it so special: its only the director talking about his films. there is no reporter or journalist trying to look smart by playing off of them, its just the director reminiscing about his work on the films during his career. the only form of structure that is placed on the show is a few themed headings such as 'first film', or 'pre production', and at the end 'last thoughts'. it allows the director to talk about whatever part of the process, or whatever part of their careers they choose to. watching such directors as chris columbus, jan van bont, rob reiner, george lucas, and others, one of the interesting aspects of these guys it how they honestly talk about their hits and misses. for the most part, they are honest about their work and acknowledge where there may have been missteps. the only drawback to the show is the obvious lack of production money, which doesnt have any baring on the interviews themselves, but is apparent when they try to show the movies the directors are talking about. reelz channel obviously doesnt have enough money to pay for the rights to show clips of the films, choosing instead to just show still photos from the movies being discussed. other than that, though, the in depth exploration of the directors about their own career and craft is really very interesting!

DVD. true blood

2009-07-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

diana suckered me into seeing this. i had no interest in it, but she got a copy from her friend, so we gave it a try. on a friday night we watched one, figured we had some extra time, so we watched another. by sunday evening we had finished the whole season! the story follows a southern town as they deal with the fact that vampires are real. sookie, a local waitress, becomes entangled with a vampire who is traveling through. over the course of the season we follow their relationship as they try to make sense of their differences as well as everyone elses opinion of what's going on. also, there happens to be a slew of murders going on in this town and some people are pretty curious about the vampire's involvement.over all the series is pretty good, there is a strong southern dirty style to the show and an interesting premise at its base: if vampires no longer need to feed on humans, could they be accepted and live among us? this question is just one of many different layers that the show deals with, this question in particular is used as a metaphor for the plight of gays in america. there are other deep issues as well, but the show rarely takes time to linger on the issues, the depth does not bog down the action. i enjoyed the twists and turns, the murder mystery, and the relationships between many of the different characters. with that said, this show falls into the same problem that so many other shows succumb to: the characters are not even remotely believable. they act one way during one episode, and then change completely to suit the story told in the next episode. and worst of all- almost all the problems they face could be solved with just a little clear thinking and a good honest discussion. i always think that its a bad sign of writing to contrive a conflict instead of dealing with any real issues. sookie, the main character is one of the worst culprits of them all. she's about as clear headed as a bowl of mud. most of the time i didn't really feel very sorry for her, she brought it on herself! oh, but even worse then her is her brother jason! what a complete idiot! he life is terrible and falling apart because he just does whatever others tell him to do- grow a pair already! but back to the good: the quality of the show is very high, it looks great. another aspect that i really enjoyed, which is easily noticeable when you watch the episodes back to back, is that each episode starts off immediately after the last one like its one big giant movie with no wasted time to slow down between episodes.

TV. philanthropist

2009-07-02T09:04:00.000-07:00

after watching a couple episodes of this show, i've got to say: i'm hooked! the premise is simple, its about a billionaire who realizes that he can use his money to help others so he does. its a scripted show that follows teddy rist as he travels the globe helping out those he meets along the way. the first episode found him meeting a doctor in africa who desperately needed medical supplies but kept getting stopped by crooked government workers. rist takes it upon himself to make sure the supplies get to where they need to be, he bribes people who stand in his way, he even buys a motorcycle off a guy and delivers it as far as he can himself while being shot at by the ganglord's own men. the show is able to keep a high level of excitement through out and we quickly begin to care for those who are involved. using the plot device of rist retelling the story at a bar, we are able to flash back to the story and see how he got to where he is now. its really cool because this guy is basically batman but without the costume- a rich bruce wayne who decides he must help those around him. the show includes some of his coworkers as well and even shows how rist is able to do all this good stuff while still making sure that his companies are turning profits.
this is a summer show and is limited to only an eight episode run for its first season. unfortunately i am getting a strong feeling that this is going to be all we see of 'the philanthropist', so i'm making sure i enjoy it while i can!

DVD. twin peaks

2009-06-15T07:41:00.001-07:00

i dont get it. i have heard so much about twin peaks, how great it is, how strange and unusual it is, how it is david lynch at his best. diana and i recently watched the first season and i'm afraid i just don't get it. the show i watched certainly wasnt amazing, wasn't really that strange or unusual, and i thought it was actually kind of lame. the stories arent very connected, they dont really go anywhere of much interest, the dialogue is very stilted, and the acting is, to put it kindly, wooden. the only thing that seemed very interesting to me was the strange dream where a short guy talks backwards and dances. other than that it just felt like a bad primetime soap opera with no resolution. the whole thing is supposedly about the murder of laura palmer, but by the end it seems like no one cares that much and are focused on their own subplot instead of the original mystery.
the thing that really confuses me is that diana and i watched a few of the dvd extras after finishing the season and in the cast interviews they talked about a bunch of things about their character and some of the themes of the season. both she and i were totally confused about what they were saying. one actor was saying one of the themes was 'about how laura was abused by her father' huh? there was never any mention or hinting at the idea that she was abused! either i am loosing my ability to understand films, or they are totally making stuff up that wasnt in the show... diana suggested that maybe if we rewatch it we might start to see some deeper themes. my question to her was why would i want to watch it again? i didn't even like it the first time!

TV. brink

2009-06-06T18:59:00.000-07:00

i happened to be scanning through the tv show schedule and saw that there was a show named after me! i tivoed it so i could check it out. turns out that its a british show all about the latest technology and stuff. it was kind of cool, but i just really liked the name of the show!

GAMES. xbox 360 natal

2009-06-03T14:00:00.000-07:00

earlier this week they had the E3 conference. its a video game conference where each of the three video game console makers announce what they have planned for the coming year. first up is microsoft, then nintendo, then sony. i, of course, an a huge nintendo fanboy and felt huge satisfaction when the wii outpaced all the others after most said that nintendo should quit after the gamecube. i am such a nintendo fanboy that i actually still own every system they have ever put out (including the rare virtual boy). i have always swore that i would never own any other gaming system. until now. the mircosoft keynote address about their upcoming products introduced this thing called 'natal'. it is video gaming with out a controller! they showed it off and it totally blew my mind! i am still picking up pieces of my mind off the carpet two days later...

i dont know how real it is, but if it actually comes out- i will buy an xbox 360 for it!

check out a little bit about it here.

AUDIO BOOK. our dumb world

2009-05-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

an audio book atlas from the guys over at 'the onion'. if you are unfamiliar with 'the onion', its basically a snarky fake news source in the same vein as jon stewart and stephen colbert. in this audio book they give a brief synopsis of every country on the planet, covering 'everything you need to know about' each one. some range from longer entries, such as the entry for america, to just a short sentence about other nations that they say we dont need to know anything about. its a humorous look at each nation and really focuses on the incompetence and apathy most americans feel toward other nations. they report stereotypes and ignorance as fact in such nations as italy where they say everyone is a gangster who just sits around eating their mother's meatballs. over all, the audio book is filled with wit and sardonic insights that are really funny. one warning, the 'book' is covered over three cds, but this type of humor really works best in small doses, so i wouldnt recommend listening to it all in one sitting.

AUDIO BOOK. born standing up

2009-05-18T13:31:00.001-07:00

this is an autobiography of steve martin's life as a stand-up comedian. his story takes him to many places and gives a great inside look at this unusual comic. there are some really interesting anecdotes, such as his first job as a young boy working at disney land. he loved magic and performing all his life, and this book chronicles his start in performance theater and follows him all the way through to selling out stadiums with his stand-up routine. the author reflects on the steps that lead him to craft his unique style and some of the career decisions that lead to him being the most popular comic ever at the time. his honesty and candor is surprising as he tells of his home life, his losing touch with family and trying to rebuild the bridges burned, as well has his opinion of what it was like for him at the top. the best part of this memoir is that it is actually read by martin himself, so you get to hear him talk about his life and the events that shaped him. we learn a lot about what he did, but it still feels like he is a bit guarded about himself, glossing over many of the personal aspects of his life, instead focusing on the professional path he took. by the end i better understood and appreciated his comedic voice, even if i didnt feel like i knew the man behind it any better.

BOOKS. congo

2009-05-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

i had read this one once when i was in junior high and really loved it. i was going through a stage where i wanted to read everything michael crichton wrote, which isnt a bad goal at all considering most of his stuff is pretty good!
the story follows a scientist who has been taking care of an ape that had been taught to speak using sign language. recently this ape, named amy, has been getting restless and its thought that it might be time to return her to the wild. as he tries to find a way to the congo to release her, he comes across a woman who is trying to go to the same place. she works for a company that recently lost a team in the jungle and must get there and find out what went wrong. eventually, with the help of an african guide, they find the place where the team went missing. they also happen upon the lost ruins of the city of zinj, a once great civilization that disappeared mysteriously. as they uncover the truth they realize that they are in more danger than they realized!
having read the book before and seen the movie (which is about as good as campy fun gets!- check out my review of the movie here), i knew what i was in for as far as the story goes. what i had forgotten since last reading it, was just how good the writing is! the story unravels at a lighting quick speed. crichton does an amazing job of keeping things interesting and the adrenaline racing, he also sprinkles in different tidbits about research and stories of apes and the jungle that enrich the reading so much. how real are these other tidbits and research? well, thats the thing about crichton, he is very good at making up the supposedly 'real' info thats featured alongside the stories he writes. whether any of it is based on fact or just the imagination of crichton does not alter the fact that this book is a page turner that was a blast to read!

GAMES. sequence

2009-05-07T13:11:00.001-07:00

i had never played this game growing up, but diana said she really liked it, so we added it to our wedding registry. we ended up getting it. recently we pulled it out and diana taught me how to play- and i've got to admit i really like it!
its a card game and a board game all in one. the cards you have in your hand are on the board and when you lay one down you can put a chip on the spot on the board. once you get 2 five-in-a-rows, then you win! its been fun playing with diana because its pretty different each time you play, and can be enjoyed with just two players, unlike some of the other games we got... oops.

BOOKS. the giver

2009-05-07T13:06:00.000-07:00

someone at school was giving away old copies that were falling apart, so i grabbed one. having never read it, i remember english teachers in the past saying how good this book is, so i saw this as my opportunity to give it a try.
the premise is very orwellian, its about a colony that must follow all these rules and regulations to make their civilization a great utopia. this means denying themselves of many freedoms, and following the guidelines for living that the society has deemed acceptable. the children only get one toy, they must wear uniforms and wear their hair a certain way, once they are of age they are put into certain training jobs that are dictated to them, etc. our main character, jonas, is given a very unusual job, he is called to be the 'receiver of memory' for their community. this means that he is training to be the only one who will learn the truth behind all the rules. he is trained by the current receiver of memory, called the giver. as jonas learns these truths about life he is forever changed and must make the choice to accept the truth or try to make things right.
its a pretty good story well told. the author does a good job of conveying the joys of the community in the laws they carry out. as we see jonas begin to question things, the author allows us to ask the same questions and find out some pretty unexpected things about what is so different in this society. because of these differences, there really is no way that this book could be made into a movie- it would give everything away to quickly! the ending of the story is a bit confusing though, i understand what the author was trying to do, but the descriptions and telling of it all gets muddled a bit. over all, its a great introduction for young readers into the sub genre of big government style books like '1984' and 'brave new world'.

watchmen

2009-04-17T14:38:00.000-07:00

now, i havent seen the movie yet, but just the fact that everyone is talking about it and there are ads up everywhere for the movie makes me very happy. i read the comic book many, many years ago. if all this advertising for it leads more people to read the original book, then that is worth it, even if the movie sucks (which i hope it doesnt...).

DVD. sliders

2009-03-15T05:39:00.000-07:00

i recently went to the used dvd shop and traded in some of my more foolish dvd purchases through the years, and got some new stuff. one of the things i got was the first and second seasons (they are both in one box) of 'sliders'. i have had my eye on that set for about two years, but finally found one at a used store so it would be affordable, and with my trade ins, it was free!

i remember the watching and really enjoying the show when it was originally on way back in 1995. it stared jerry o'connell, sabrina lloyd, and john rhys-davies as people who got sucked into a portal that opened up on alternate earths. they would show up in these different worlds that looked a lot like ours, but with an alternate history that would result in differences from the world we know. they would slide into these places, but not know when and if they would ever get to slide back out. they are continually stuck sliding to different dimensions without ever being sure if they will return to their home.

i just rewatched the original two hour pilot episode. i had been fearing the worst, figuring it might be one of those shows that i would regret going back and watching because it would ruin my positive memories of it by being terrible. but i have to say, i was very surprised! it holds up really well! the special effects are very dated (14 years has a way of doing that...), but the story line and the execution are still very good. the different worlds they go to vary in its changes, everything from a world where jfk is still president and red lights are go and green is stop, to a world where russia won the cold war and the united states is run by a communist regime. the set up and possibilities are really exciting, i just hope that the other twenty episodes fulfill that promise!

TV. cleaning out the tivo

2009-03-14T08:54:00.000-07:00

i watch too much tv. i know this, but i justify it because i tivo everything and can fast forward or skip whatever i want. but the time has come to say goodbye to a few shows. a couple that are getting the boot:

x-play.

why its good: this is a half hour show on G4 dedicated to video games. it was always a bunch of fun because the two hosts, adam sessler and morgan webb, are usually pretty funny, and their game reviews are entertaining. even the games that i didn't have any interest in were usually pretty fun to watch. also, they often have funny skits about different game characters with a lot of inside jokes that only gamers would get, and i would often be knowledgeable enough to get the jokes.

why i'm done: a while ago they 'updated' the show. now it features in-studio demos of games, interviews with game makers, tips and guides from professional gamers, and previews of games that are coming out. all this sounds good, but it is really boring to watch ten minutes of a game demo for a game i couldn't care less about. the best part of the show was always the game reviews, but they now only have one or two per show. the cut down on reviews means they could go a whole week of episodes without even mentioning a game i care about. and all the stuff with the pros is really lame. its to the point where it takes me about three minutes to watch a whole show- i fast forward through everything and just watch the gamer news update. they have been skipping the update lately, so now all i do is fast forward through it looking for something good, and get to the end of the recording without seeing anything i am interested in. sorry, 'x-play', its been a good few years, but its time for you to go.
numb3ers.

why its good: i've never been a fan of procedural dramas; shows like 'csi' and other cop shows have always bored me. but for some reason, i really enjoy 'numb3rs'. at first i started watching the first season because sabrina lloyd was on it (i loved her in 'sliders' and 'sports night'), and by the time she left after the first season i was hooked and liked all the rest of the characters. the hook of this show is that all the plots are solved using different math theories and equations. its kind of a nerdy premise, but the way they visualize the different math stuff always reminded me of the movie 'pi', which i really loved.

why i'm done: with some reluctance, i am moving on from this show. its one that i still enjoy watching, but its one of the casualties of cutting back my tv watching. the formula of the show is very repetitive, but the character moments are frequent enough that it made the different episodes worth watching. this one was never one that i eagerly looked forward to, but a good one to have on while i was doing something else. but unfortunately, something has to be cut, and this one fell just below the line.
terminator: the sarah connor chronicles.

why its good: this one is obvious- its terminator! i watched all of the first season and really enjoyed it, they do a great job of adding to the mythology of the terminator series. the first season dragged a bit at the beginning, but once they added john connor's uncle, brian austin green, it was a ton better. one of the best parts of the show is its pacing. i start watching an episode and it moves along at such a good speed, that it feels too short by the time i get to the end of an episode! oh, and summer glau is really cool!

why i'm done: well, i'm not actually done... last year i watched the first half of the season as it aired, but the second half i just stockpiled episodes until the summer and watched them all in one go. this was perfect due to the speed of the show- i finish one and get to move on to the next episode right away, no waiting a week in between! this season i have done the same, i currently have about 15 episodes saved on the tivo which i havent even started to watch! the reason why i'm deleting this from the tivo is because i will just rent season two when it comes out on dvd. the first season came out so early in the summer that it was already out before i watched my recorded episodes. i figure i'll do the same this summer. so, even though i am getting rid of the show, i am very much looking forward to watching it later.

COMIC BOOKS. the dark knight

2009-02-15T05:28:00.000-08:00

i recently decided to reread 'the dark knight returns' by frank miller. i had read it a couple times before years ago, but i recently got it back from a friend and couldn't help but page through it again. the book had a huge impact on the world of comics, it brought about 'the dark age' in comics. in the eighties most comic books were light and silly. when 'the dark knight returns' came out, it was a catalyst that shifted the gears of the industry and everything focused instead on dark gritty characterizations. this came to a head in the 90's with the anti-hero, and every character seemed to be willing to kill. the story itself takes place when bruce wayne is in his fifties and has retired from being batman for about ten years. the city has gone to crap and now gangs rule the landscape. all the superheroes have been arrested or disappeared, superman is a neutered lapdog of the government, and there seems to be no hope. bruce has had it, and decides to put the cape and cowl back on. except this time he's angry. the story is a dense tale that looks at corruption and responsibility and how those things are ignored. its a great story and worth rereading every couple years.

after having finished that one, i pulled out the follow up 'the dark knight strikes again'. this one came out around 2001 and is startlingly different than the first one. this one seems to try and be the opposite end of the spectrum. the story continues as batman is trying to bring the world's superheroes back into the spotlight to try and change the growing shallowness and apathy of gotham's residents. the shock of reading this one right after the first one is the stark contrasts between the two. where the first one is dark and moody, this one is bright and electric. the first is written densely and packed with small panels and lots of words, this one is full of splash pages and minimal dialog. the art in this volume seems to be no longer interested in representing the figures, rather just give a vague simplified version of the characters. instead of dark imagery based in darkness, this one has the backgrounds in all white, or generic outlines in light hues. the characters seem to be having fun and relish the role of being a superhero instead of brooding over everything.

just as the first one was in response to the shallow simplicity of the comic industry in the 80's, the second feels like a response to the gritty dark comic industry of the 90's that the first had created.

GAMES. broken ds

2009-02-08T14:22:00.001-08:00

it is a sad day. my nintendo ds finally gave out on me- its dead. its been on the fritz for about a month or so, but it looks like it finally kicked the bucket. its a bit sad, a video game system has never died on me before. i bought this thing when it first came out in november of 2004. it was the first video game system i had ever bought when it first came out, and i was totally excited to play it! i spent a lot of time playing it those first few months and had a great time. over the years i had gotten quite a few games for it, but i was mostly drawn toward puzzle games. i haven't played it much for the past year or so, pulling it out for a week or two and playing some puzzle games right before bed. i mostly just loved to play the mini games and stuff. i bought 'super mario 64' when i first got my ds, and i hardly ever played the actual mario game! i think i still have yet to collect more than 5 coins... but i spent countless hours playing the card mini games, maxing out the amount of points you could earn in each of the games.

i guess i'll just have to live without it for now. maybe when the new version, the nintendo dsi, comes out the current versions will get real cheap and i can pick one up. if not, the games will go into my video game bin that houses all the old systems i dont play anymore. sad indeed.

TV. battlestar galactica

2009-01-24T15:56:00.000-08:00

it happened. i promised myself it wouldn't, but it did. i became a fan of 'battlestar galactica'. after all the critical praise it has gotten over the years, i gave it a try a year or so ago, but wasn't impressed. the dense storylines and hard to understand mythology were too much for me. i watched about three episodes and gave up.
now with the new season starting my curiosity was peeked once again. seeing all the ads for it during 'stargate atlantis' and 'sanctuary', and constantly hearing of its praises in different magazines and online, i decided to give it another go. this season opener they were going to reveal who the final cylon is. big deal, right? i agree, but it was enough to entice me to give it another go. and wouldn't you know it, the sci fi chanel just so happened to be having a twelve hour marathon leading up to the new episode. i fired up the tivo and recorded them all. i started with the two part finale last season, and then it got me- i was hooked! the intricate stories of the last humans trying to get back to the mythical planet 'earth' sucked me in until i needed to know who the last cylon was! they got me, those sneaky weasels! i blew through the next ten episodes in a matter of days until i finally got to the season premiere where they finally revealed who it was. i was shocked- actually i wasnt, it was more like 'so, who's that?' like i said, the story is dense. but now with only nine episodes to go in this final season, i have to see how their journey ends. i wont be going back and watching all three seasons i missed, it actually adds to the fun confusion by not always knowing what they are talking about...

TV. stargate atlantis

2009-01-11T12:17:00.000-08:00

the final episode of the last season has now come to a close. i'm a big 'stargate' fan, but i have to say, that was disappointing. i don't just mean the last episode, i mean the whole show. i came to the whole 'stargate' thing a bit late, but i became a fast fan. 'stargate sg-1' was amazing. each week they would travel to a new world and learn about their society. each place allowed them to examine and comment on an aspect of our society in the form of fantasy, like the best sci-fi short stories. most of the episodes dealt with a part of ourselves exaggerated so it could be explored and commented on through the guise of science fiction. the typical trappings of a science fiction show were usually avoided, no impossible spacey kinds of things, just people exploring and interacting with a new culture and trying to understand it. usually they didn't get bogged down by space ships or transporter type nonsense (well, at least until the last couple seasons, which were admittedly past their prime...).
but this show? 'stargate atlantis'? about the exact opposite. there was always space ships, transporters, ridiculous technology, and lame aliens. in fact, the show would go for stretches of five or six episodes sometimes without even using the stargate itself! come on, thats where the show gets its name! that would be like 'ER' if they never went to the hospital- lame! there were some good parts, mostly the casting of jewel staite, but the bad far outweighed the good. unlike 'stargate sg-1', i am not at all sad to see 'stargate atlantis' go. maybe they will do better next season when the third show, 'stargate: universe', starts up. i'll be first in line hoping that they learned from their atlantis mistakes.

BOOKS. don't panic

2009-01-10T13:32:00.000-08:00

a couple years ago, when the movie was going to come out, i decided to read 'hitchhikers guide to the galaxy'. i didn't know anything about it, but i had heard it was pretty funny. i read it quickly and totally enjoyed it. i've since gone back and read most of the other books from the series. the first one was definitely the best, but all of them have their humorous charms.
recently i came across this book, a biography about douglas adams, the author of the 'hitchhikers' books. its written by neil gaiman, which is a name you can always trust. it was quite interesting. i didn't know anything about mr. adams, but was quite enthralled by this account of his life. gaiman writes it in the same sort of dry british wit that characterizes adams writings. it was interesting to learn about how the story started, as a radio show for the BBC. it morphed over time to include a television series, a set of books, and a computer game, each of which tells the story differently. adams was by all accounts a major procrastinator, often waiting until two weeks before a book was due to even begin writing (which explains why the books are so uneven). it seems he was also a man who loved technology. he was involved in creating a 'hitchhikers guide' on the internet which anyone could contribute to, basically creating wikipedia before wikipedia! this book shares his works, which were unfortunately cut short when he passed away eight years ago. a very funny and interesting look at a funny and interesting man.

AUDIO BOOKS. love is a mixtape

2009-01-10T13:31:00.000-08:00

a writer for 'rolling stone', rob sheffield shares his life through the music he loved. in each chapter he gives the name of a mixtape he made, lists the songs on it, then shares stories about it or about what was going on in his life at the time he listened to it. many of the stories are about having fun and hanging out, but most of them revolve around a girl named renee, his wife. he shares how they met, their relationship, marriage, and life with her. they were married five years when she had a heart problem that took her life. rob goes on to share how he tried to understand it and deal with life after renee. for a long time he hid behind his music, not wanting to participate in the real world any longer. he explains how things never get any easier after a loss, they just keep going. at the end he shares that he has been able to reenter the real world and lives his life as a memorial to renee, living as she would have wanted him to. he moves to a new city, finds new jobs, and eventually even finds a new wife. its a heartfelt tale of how to grow and love, all through the form of music.

AUDIO BOOKS. never have your dog stuffed

2009-01-10T13:30:00.001-08:00

i've often seen alan alda on different talk shows and have always enjoyed his anecdotes about his life. when i saw this on the shelf i figured it would be worth a listen. the book is a memoir of his life, most of it consisting of his early life, growing up with parents who were traveling vaudeville performers, going to school, and starting out in theater. i had heard many of the stories before, so much of it was repeats of things he had shared on different shows. over all though, it was a nice story sharing his struggles and victories over the years. he talks of dealing with a mother who was mentally ill, falling in love with his wife, and little bits of advice for actors ('always tell them you can do everything! can i ride a horse? sure!'). he includes a few stories from his days on 'mash', but i wast that interested because i never cared for that show. even still, a fun listen with some nice insight.

AUDIO BOOKS. the year of magical thinking

2009-01-05T18:58:00.000-08:00

this is a moving memoir of loss. didion retells the story of her husbands unexpected death and reflects on its impact in her life. after his heart attack she explains her attempt to deal with his passing and the year that followed as she tried to piece her life back together again. she shares her struggles with accepting his death and the challenges of understanding it. she talks of the days and weeks following it when she would constantly expect him to return, feeling like it wasn't real, or that she could do something to reverse what had happened. how do you mourn? what is the right way to grieve? the author researches the writings on the topic and finds that there is very little written on the subject and tries to explain her own thinking during her time of loss. the realization that it doesn't get easier, it just gets further and further away was an interesting observation. the book is filled with sadness, struggling, and ultimately embarrassing the difficulties of loss.

TV. fringe

2008-12-15T18:21:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-08T16:58:00.001-08:00

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

2008-12-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T18:41:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T18:39:00.000-08:00

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

2008-11-17T17:34:00.000-08:00

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

2008-10-29T10:07:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:42:00.003-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:42:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:41:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:40:00.002-07:00

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!

2008-10-15T17:40:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:37:00.002-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:37:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:36:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:35:00.000-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:34:00.001-07:00

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

2008-10-15T17:33:00.001-07:00

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

2008-09-22T17:58:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-09-22T17:16:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-16T16:18:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-06T19:42:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-24T08:52:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-22T09:00:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-13T13:34:00.001-07:00

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 swandson

2008-06-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-15T11:51:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-08T17:59:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-08T16:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-05-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-15T11:13:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-03T15:17:00.000-08:00

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

2008-02-18T15:15:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-02-11T15:46:00.000-08:00

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!

TOYS. hellboy figure

2008-02-07T15:13:00.001-08:00

ive been a hellboy fan since about 2001 and have been collecting anything related to him for almost as long. i have half a dozen or more figures, some from the comic, others from the movie. i have all the trade paperbacks of the comics, and the three disc version of the movie, i even have the hardcover 'art of hellboy' book. but recently i came across the coolest hellboy thing ive ever seen: its an 18 inch figure of hellboy. the detail is positively amazing! he has a leather coat, with real working snaps, actual pockets, detailed trinkets hanging from his belt, and even an amazing looking 'samaritan' gun. even the box art is amazing. here are a few more pics of it. its so awesome...

TV. super bowl commercials

2008-02-04T14:12:00.000-08:00

i, like many others, watched the super bowl last night. now, im not much of a football fan, but i do enjoy watching every once in a while (and once a year is just about right). the game was fun, it was always close, and for someone who doesnt care who wins, that makes is more enjoyable. mostly though, i watch for the commercials!
here, in no particular order, are my 10 favorite, and my reaction to them:
1. pepsi max- in this one everyone was falling asleep, heads bobbing, while the song 'what is love' played in the background. they become wide awake after taking a sip of pepsi max. kind of funny, but the clincher was when they woke up they kept head bobbing, but this time like the guys from 'night at the roxberry', and then chris katan shows up and is pissed 'aww, come on!' funny!
2. bridgestone tires- a squirrel is in the middle of the road and a car starts coming and he screams, as do all the forrest animals as they watch in terror. the best was a really tiny bug screaming in a really high voice. quite cute.
3. Audi r8- a guy wakes up in his bed and sees a strange dark liquid on his hands, he pulls back his sheets and in his bed is the front end of his jaguar. he screams. a silly take on that 'godfather' scene with the horse head. oh, and the new audi car looks amazing!
4. fed ex- a delivery company uses carrier pigeons instead of other transportation. a guy asks 'how do you ship the big packages?' the camera pulls back to reveal twenty foot pigeons flying around dropping packages and terrorizing the residents of the city. humorous.
5. tide- a guy is being interviewed for a new job, and has a stain on his shirt. the stain starts talking giberish over top of the guy being interviewed. probably my biggest laugh of the night!
6. budweiser- every year they have thier clidsdale horses in a commercial, and this year they show one of them not making the line up and the dalmation telling him hes going to help him train for next year. then we hear 'eye of the tiger' and a rocky-eque training sequence, and the horse getting picked the following year. a smile.
7. iron man- they showed a new preview for the upcoming 'iron man' movie with robert downey jr. now, ever since i saw the first preview a couple months ago i have been giddy as a school girl for this movie! i dont really care for iron man as a comic book character, but for some reason this movie has me geeking out big time! awesome!!!
8. corolla- a guy is put into the car with a sleeping family of badgers and told if he wakes them they will attack him. they they proceed to fire off a cannon near the car. its so quite inside that they dont wake up. then his cell phone rings. oops! kind of funny.
9. sobe life water- a woman starts drinking and all kinds of lizards start dancing. kind of lame, except for the fact that the song playing is michael jacksons 'thriller', and the lizards are doing that cool zombie dance. kudos for the mj nod.
10. amazon.com- justin timberlake gets pulled around to all kinds of crazy places. eventually its shown that a couple girls just downloaded his song and it takes him there. cool effects, but kinda a dumb commercial.

all in all, i would say that the iron man commercial was the best!

TV. golden globes

2008-01-14T17:43:00.000-08:00

the golden globes were on last night. usually i get excited for it, i get a bit of a kick out of awards stuff, especially the oscars. but things were a bit different last night than they usually are. due to the writers strike they changed the show alot. they were not able to have any written stuff for the show, and most of the actors and actresses wouldnt have shown up anyway out of solidarity with the writers. so, they were forced to change the show from a fun event with the stars celebrating and drinking too much, into a boring news show where they just announced the nominees and then said who won. boring. it was such a non event that i almost forgot i had even watched it. oh, and they picked some sucky winners. im starting to think that the hollywood foreign press is as lame as everyone says.

this better not happen this year for the oscars, or heads will roll...

GAMES. super mario galaxy

2008-01-02T23:16:00.000-08:00

i forgot. im sorry, but i had forgotten. i forgot just how fun video games can really be. i had spent too many nights playing monopoly party on the gamecube, and too many nights playing wii sports. i forgot that a video game can be so immersive and addictively exciting when you really dig into it and let yourself be taken away. im sorry, i wont let it happen again.

for christmas i got super mario galaxy for the wii and figured 'its gotten such good reviews, maybe its worth a try' and boy is it ever! i wasnt much of a fan of the last couple mario games. 'mario 64' didnt do anything for me, and 'mario sunshine' didnt hold my attention, and i think it best if we all just forgot about 'luigis mansion'.

'super mario galaxy' is everything one would hope for in a game. the story is simple, but it leads to such incredible levels and worlds that its so easy to loose yourself in the game.

now, i dont really consider myself a gamer. i am interested in the video game industry and enjoy picking up a controller every now and then, but my attention span for games is usually limited to a half hour. but this one? well, i think over the past four days ive logged in almost 15 hours of game play! the levels are some of the wackiest ive ever seen, the characters are adorable and a blast to control, the enemies are varied and challenging, and the objectives are exciting and interesting. the controls on the wii are some of the most fun and inventive ive ever seen. after about ten seconds it becomes second nature to control that little guy on the screen and jet around on all the different adventures in store. the only draw back from playing so much is the really messed up dreams!

i would talk about it more, but ive got a craving to go play some more! later!

TV. late late show

2008-01-02T22:20:00.000-08:00

'hello everybody, and welcome to the late late show, i am your host craig ferguson. its a great day for america...' thats how craig always starts out his show, and tonight was the first time ive heard it in far too long. why? because craigs back on the air!!! ive been waiting eight long weeks for this. along with every other show on tv, it has been affected by the writers strike. now, the strike itself is a good think if it gets the writers more money, but im sick of it and i am glad craigs back on the air. for some reason david letterman got the writers guild to allow writers back to his and craigs show. i dont know how, but im happy.

and tonights episode, let me tell you, was a great one! i knew the strike was coming back in november, and i tried to plan ahead by keeping some episodes in reserves on the tivo for whenever i might need my craig fix. well, that went dry a couple weeks ago, so this is perfect timing for me! tonight craig was in fine form- it was very obvious that he was excited to be back. he was grinning ear to ear the whole monologue and sounded positively giddy the whole time. we was going off on tangents the whole night and making himself laugh just as much as he was making me laugh! there were no guests on the show tonight, rather, they had a bunch of skits to show off the great writing. in one bit he answered a phone call from the governor, but said 'hello?' before he picked up the phone- he started laughing at himself and riffing on it so much that they almost had to scrap the skit because there wasnt going to be enough time!

all i can really say is that im glad hes back on with new shows, i was running out of great jokes i try to pass off as my own material!

GAMES. wii zapper

2007-12-31T09:34:00.001-08:00

for christmas i got the wii zapper. its a plastic attachment that you pit the remote and nunchuck into to turn it into a gun style device. its only twenty bucks, and comes with a zelda game. so, i figured id try it out. the game is called 'link's crossbow challenge'. its a fairly basic game, mostly designed just to utilize the zapper attachment. its really quite fun, it involves about 8 levels, each level consisting of three stages. the fun thing about each stage is its variety. now, the game itself is basically a glorified light gun exercise, but it finds many interesting and fun ways to use that premise. the first stage of each level is a target shooting game, basically its like a shooting gallery carnival game. the second stage is a third person shooter where you move around and shoot at the bad guys. the final stage in each level is a first person shooter, which can sometimes be like a duck hunt or lethal enforcer style game. each level is challenging and a lot of fun. a fun aspect of the game is the multiplier for successful hits in a row. if you hit your targets consecutively the point value can jump from 50 to 5000 or more.

it was very fun. i figure a good indicator if its fun level is the fact that a half hour after playing it i wanted to play it again!

THEATER. too much light makes the baby go blind

2007-11-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

back when i was in college i was involved in a play called 'nobody move, and nobody gets hurt'. it was a very strange play. we took our idea for the play from a group called the neo-futurists. the basic premise is this: we perform about 40 short plays in 90 minutes. each play is unique- it may be a work of poetry, a monologue, a short drama, or anything else we could think of. the fun twist of the whole thing was that the audience would decide what order we would perform the plays in. we had a clothesline going across the top of the stage and pinned in to it were sheets of paper with the numbers 1-40 written on them. in the audiences playbill would be the titles of all 40 plays. at the end of each short play we would say 'scene', at which point the audience members would yell out the number of what play they wanted to see next. what ever number we heard first would be the next performed.
the play was an astounding success. we quickly sold out each night that we performed, with may people coming to the show multiple times because the order would change the play so much. (for example, if we start off with a silly slapstick play it could influence the mood for when we would get to the more heavy drama plays, and vice versa) we added a couple more shows, but even that wasnt enough to fill the demand. so, about two months later we opened again (with 15 of the 40 plays being new) and performed about 8 more shows to sell out crowds. the show, as strange as this sounds, actually went on tour! at the beginning of the summer our college has a drama group go around to different high schools (who are still in class) and perform, and we were asked to do it that year. unfortunately i backed out at that time, i had summer job commitments and all, but they went on the road and had a great time with a replacement actor.
anyway, the structure for the play was lifted from the neo-futurists who perform in chicago and every weekend they perform their version called 'too much light makes the baby go blind'. ive been living close to chicago for over 4 years now, and i finally went down and saw the original. a couple friends and i went one saturday night and had a great time! part of the fun for me was just reliving my time in college, but it was also cool to see how these professionals work the idea. they were quite a bit more extreme than we were, they would pour water and shoot mustard at each other, and other things that we didnt do (mostly we didnt want to have to worry about the clean up...) it was also cool to talk to my friends who went with about the experience from their fresh perspective- it seemed perfectly normal to me, but they thought it was really strange. and fun.