TV. the o.c.

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

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

GAMES. monopoly party

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

TV. robin hood

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

COMIC BOOKS. david: the shepherds song

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

WEBSITES. facebook

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

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

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

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

TOYS. lego batman

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

TV. americone dream

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

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

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

TV. last comic standing

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

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

COMEDY. nick swardson

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

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

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

NEWSPAPER. main street coffee house

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

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

TV. the andromeda strain

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

TV. colbert report

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

TV. attack of the show

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

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

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

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

TV. cancelled shows

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TV. the indiana primary

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