Smallville - Lana Lang evil? Turns out that Lana was helping to keep Lionel Luther prisoner but sadly he escaped (why not kill him?). The story is a superhero show is filming in Smallville and the starlet is in danger cause a comic fiend takes the comic a little to far thinking the film should mirror by having her die. In the act of saving her a few times, the bad guy discovers Clark's alter ego and decides he too needs to lose a love one to become a true hero (shades of Flash's Zoom). All ends well of course...except Lex visits the guy to hear his story.
Supernatural - Guys goes to a town to stop two demons (and lovers). The female demon has a slight lisp but makes up for it by being absolutely gorgeous. Sasha Barrese plays the bad girl and I couldn't help but notice she would have made a great Bionic Women as far as the visuals go. Anyway the other development is the hint that Sam may have a massive dark side considering he is supposed to take up the mantle of leadership for all demons. Finally the demon gun is back in action thanks to the assistance of the friendly demon blond (the sassy and gorgeous Katie Cassidy). What is her agenda? Me thinks she is Lucifer in disguise. It appears that Supernatural is following the Angel/Buffy model of a season long Big Bad that guides the actions throughout the season until defeated in the season finale. Bout damn time that tradition came back to TV.
Grey's Anatomy - See Bailey missed her son's first Halloween and upset about it. George feels guilty about screwing another women. Meredith helps a boy get ears for free and Alex got his groove on with Ava (the ferry girl) but didn't follow up. So another meh episode. Dr. Hahn (Brooke Smith, attractive to me but not sure why) is back to torment yang
Big Shots - The transvestite black book silliness might be resolved as Terrence bought the book and gave it to Duncan. Course Terrence gets to sack the ex (Paige Turco) so why not. Just glad that storyline (I hope) has been put to bed. Wendy (Amy Sloan) shows off her magnificent body (in lingerie) to have sex with her husband which makes you wonder why he would cheat on such a knockout to begin with. Duncan's daughter (amazingly eyed Peyton List) highers a guy to help her do her job and of course plans to jump him at some point. Course the guy has an agenda of his own. Only on TV can the intern higher another intern to help her. Almost forgot about the other silliness with the Alias guy dressing up in a costume for his kids attention and turns out the ex-wife's boyfriend does the same so they fight.
Survivor - Another tribe interloper goes home, this time Sherea cause they lost a nasty food competition. Like dry heaves gross. On the bright side for the other two interlopers, the preview gave away the merge so the producers goal of a 5 v 5 teams were realized. Good play producers, but could you leave the actually playing to the players next time? Much appreciated.
My Name is Earl - Alyssa Milano guests, still looking fan-freaking tastic and barely looked like she aged a day. She plays the girlfriend of Frank, Earl's inmate friend. Nice to see her sex appeal on display after years of it being suppressed on Charmed. Joy vs Catalina (hmmm) cause of a picture Cat took that shows Joy crapping her pants (being preggers and all). As for the Earl side, his goal was to get Alyssa back with Frank but once he does realizes they need to break up because Frank was holding her back.
30 Rock - Carrie Fisher guests as an ex-writer of a sketch comedy show from the 70s that Liz (Tina Fey) was inspired by. Tina hires her as a guest writer who is more then a bit filthy in her preferences for sketch comedy results in both getting fired (gets job back at the end). Tracy explores his daddy issues with Jack (who ends up playing Tracy's entire family, hilariously). Jenna (the lovely Jane Krakowski) destroys Kenneth's page jack. After sex appeal fails to impress, Kenneth must do a Page-Off to keep his position or get transferred to CNBC. Sadly no page off occurs as everyone ordered back to work.
The Office - Dunder-Mifflin decides to run ads locally. Instead of simply waving their hands like supposed to, Michael tries to create his own which of course gets rejected.
Scrubs - The return of my favorite comedy on TV. Partly because of the ever more gorgeous Sarah Chalke. I swear the girl gets better looking every year. Anyway, the cliffhanger ending is that Elliot and JD where going to do it but that gets resolved in five seconds by them not. Despite not getting busy with JD, Elliot breaks off the marriage with Keith. Preggers Kim (yummy Elizabeth Banks) is still around. The rest of the guys (including Kelso) get involved in helping Joe, the patient with the great smile. The Janitor gets a girlfriend named Lady. Still doesn't have a name...yet. JD realizes he doesn't love Kim but will stay anyway for the child (depressing thought).
ER - Most of it boring but the Morris bit was funny. He's wearing a promise ring, which woman think is a wedding ring. So he is constantly getting hit on, including from some outstanding twins. Suffice it to say, knowing the hotties hitting on him is quite painful. When twins hit on you and you have to so no, can't help but feel for the man.
Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Forgot this show moved to USA Network. Had to hit the internets to get the first three eps. Still as interesting as was in the past. Alicia Witt joins the cast. Freaking gorgeous natural redhead (rare those) and even if didn't like the show probably watch just cause a fan. Her character not so realistic. The girl is too pretty to play a tough, socially inept detective. Pretty woman tend to get too many social opportunities growing up to not learn skills. Its why you have the socially inept, few opportunities to learn. She is there for sex appeal and doing a mighty fine job of it.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
TV Quick Hits 10/24
Bionic Women - Jamie goes undercover to find out why a recovered POW went kaka and killed all the doctors that where treating him. As part of the identity, she "takes on" a British accent. Which is her real accent, being British and all. What is it with the British and Australians able to do a better American accent then Americans? Michelle Ryan added a few notches to the sexy meter with that accent. As for the story, bad guy gets caught selling the microchip that allows the programming of people to do actions against their will and all is well, especially since Jaime met a man from the CIA to bump uglies with.
Life - Uh forgot to pay attention. Something about a pimp who managed to surround himself with nothing but knockouts and one of them died.
Criminal Minds - The lovely (but better with long hair) Suzanne Cryer guests as the aunt of a kidnapped girl in a mall that was locked down preventing the kidnapper and girl from leaving. At first the Minds crew thinks its a serial pedophile who kills them within an hour but the right questions and hints, learn that the uncle was molesting the girl and the aunt decided that if the girl was killed it would fix her marriage and husband. The girl lives. Sadly the criminal couple leave behind a boy. Overall, no deaths, maybe a first for the series, but a sad story nonetheless. Well executed as always.
CSI: NY - Second Life advertising fest as an assassin kills a person to claim her popular avatar to give the assassin access to murder a US Senator that was sleeping with the now dead girl. Pretty over the top and convoluted story. Entertaining too. Amazingly enough, the killer gets away. Doesn't happen often on the CSI shows.
Private Practice - Stuff happened I guess. Didn't care enough to remember it so could make snarky comments about it.
Dirty Sexy Money - Brian's wife learns he had a boy with another women, wants a divorce. The twins continue to bicker over the other woman, who isn't really preggers. Nick talks to Simon to figure out what his dad was doing with the rival billionaire, basically comes down to him being an advisor and was about to quit and work for Simon. Jeremy later loses it a bit once confirms the pregger lie cause knows that most of the people in his life want him for his moolah. Considering what a waste of space he is, no one would want the character for his personality. I think supposed to feel bad for him but can't, the writers forgot to set him up better. Also apparently paintings of ants is big money in New York. Don't understand it either.
Life - Uh forgot to pay attention. Something about a pimp who managed to surround himself with nothing but knockouts and one of them died.
Criminal Minds - The lovely (but better with long hair) Suzanne Cryer guests as the aunt of a kidnapped girl in a mall that was locked down preventing the kidnapper and girl from leaving. At first the Minds crew thinks its a serial pedophile who kills them within an hour but the right questions and hints, learn that the uncle was molesting the girl and the aunt decided that if the girl was killed it would fix her marriage and husband. The girl lives. Sadly the criminal couple leave behind a boy. Overall, no deaths, maybe a first for the series, but a sad story nonetheless. Well executed as always.
CSI: NY - Second Life advertising fest as an assassin kills a person to claim her popular avatar to give the assassin access to murder a US Senator that was sleeping with the now dead girl. Pretty over the top and convoluted story. Entertaining too. Amazingly enough, the killer gets away. Doesn't happen often on the CSI shows.
Private Practice - Stuff happened I guess. Didn't care enough to remember it so could make snarky comments about it.
Dirty Sexy Money - Brian's wife learns he had a boy with another women, wants a divorce. The twins continue to bicker over the other woman, who isn't really preggers. Nick talks to Simon to figure out what his dad was doing with the rival billionaire, basically comes down to him being an advisor and was about to quit and work for Simon. Jeremy later loses it a bit once confirms the pregger lie cause knows that most of the people in his life want him for his moolah. Considering what a waste of space he is, no one would want the character for his personality. I think supposed to feel bad for him but can't, the writers forgot to set him up better. Also apparently paintings of ants is big money in New York. Don't understand it either.
Friday, October 26, 2007
Teresa Palmer as Wonder Women
Looks like Teresa Palmer has landed the role of Wonder Women for the upcoming Justice League film. Its the first rleased casting for the film and doesn't exactly instill confidence. Not because she is a hot blonde but because she doesn't seem to have the gravitas and athletism of Wonder Women. Think Xena, not Barbie. I personally would have preferred Mary Elizabeth Winstead (last pic) in the role.
Iraq War Money Cost Visual Aid
Crooks and Liars posted a nice visual aid (which the site got from here) to help explain the financial cost of the Iraqi war in terms that are easier to comprehend. Its numbers are staggering. As it stands the CBO (Congressional Budget Office) estimates the war will end up costing $2.7 Trillion. Yes, with a T, not a B.
To see what this like, below is a stack of $9 million dollars compared to a car and a human.
On the same scale, this is $191 Billion dollars ("just" $5 billion short of the $186 Billion is going to spend this year on the war). The tiny dark spot in the bottom middle, that is the car, just to help with the scale.
Now this is $316 billion. Again notice how tiny the car and man is.
Multiple that "building" of money by 7x and you have a true idea of the scope of the money being spent on a country that wasn't a threat to the US and proven to not be involved in 9/11, something that Bush and Cheney reluctantly admitted to. All this money and 3000+ American dead and 50000k casualties so that Haliburton and Bushies could benefit financially from the war. Also so Bush could show up his father for a perceived "failure" of leaving Saddamn in power.
I can't help but wonder how just one's years expense of this war could benefit Americans directly via various programs or just simple give back via tax cuts. Makes me glad I don't have children who will have to deal with this mess, assuming that China just doesn't buy us out since all that money is being borrowed from them.
To see what this like, below is a stack of $9 million dollars compared to a car and a human.
On the same scale, this is $191 Billion dollars ("just" $5 billion short of the $186 Billion is going to spend this year on the war). The tiny dark spot in the bottom middle, that is the car, just to help with the scale.
Now this is $316 billion. Again notice how tiny the car and man is.
Multiple that "building" of money by 7x and you have a true idea of the scope of the money being spent on a country that wasn't a threat to the US and proven to not be involved in 9/11, something that Bush and Cheney reluctantly admitted to. All this money and 3000+ American dead and 50000k casualties so that Haliburton and Bushies could benefit financially from the war. Also so Bush could show up his father for a perceived "failure" of leaving Saddamn in power.
I can't help but wonder how just one's years expense of this war could benefit Americans directly via various programs or just simple give back via tax cuts. Makes me glad I don't have children who will have to deal with this mess, assuming that China just doesn't buy us out since all that money is being borrowed from them.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
TV Quick Hits 10/23
Bones - They solved a murder involving bones and proved to a goofy FBI psychologist they make a good team. Go team!! Yep the ep was about as corny as it sounds, but next week's ep has Emily Deschanel in a Wonder Women outfit, so expecting the Halloween ep to be a good one.
House - Survivor continues and another player gets eliminated, this time via a "rose" ceremony. Sadly my favorite one Taub (the non-doctor) was kicked for telling House what he already knew when House wants opposing viewpoints. The case itself was a girl taking moldy bread that acted like LSD. I am going to be sad when the final three are decided to 13, Kutner, and Brennan. Also Eric is back, just hired by Cuddy, since blacklisted as being "House Lite".
Beauty and the Geek - The gang goes to the San Diego Comic-con. The girls have to come up with a superheroine and back story and the guys have to build the costume they will wear for a few comic professionals. The beauties disdain the con while the geeks have an orgasm. To bad the girls are not into reading or they would have known about all the movie stars that showed up to promote their wares. When they find out they are going to be annoyed at the missed opportunity to find the sugar daddies they been shooting for. Jesse and Erin get jettisoned in a pop culture questionnaire.
Reaper - The boys must use a sweater to absorb a slime demon. Gross, but amusing. Especially when apparently freddy kruger claws are needed to extract them from the slimed saturated sweater.
Law and Order: SVU - An episode on torture where a "doctor" helps design "benign" means of torturing women but forgets all about the followup where apparently heart attacks are common. Excellent episode that covers the pro and con arguments to torture. I personally fall on the con as I don't see how torture results in good intel. People are just going to say what they think people want to here. Course the government hides the ratio of good intel vs bad intel that rose from torture, probably because they know the percentage would be unacceptably low.
NCIS - Guy gets shot, turns out the wife, really a spy, did it. The more fun part was the B story of Abby getting a job offer and how the rumor mill escalated the offer.
House - Survivor continues and another player gets eliminated, this time via a "rose" ceremony. Sadly my favorite one Taub (the non-doctor) was kicked for telling House what he already knew when House wants opposing viewpoints. The case itself was a girl taking moldy bread that acted like LSD. I am going to be sad when the final three are decided to 13, Kutner, and Brennan. Also Eric is back, just hired by Cuddy, since blacklisted as being "House Lite".
Beauty and the Geek - The gang goes to the San Diego Comic-con. The girls have to come up with a superheroine and back story and the guys have to build the costume they will wear for a few comic professionals. The beauties disdain the con while the geeks have an orgasm. To bad the girls are not into reading or they would have known about all the movie stars that showed up to promote their wares. When they find out they are going to be annoyed at the missed opportunity to find the sugar daddies they been shooting for. Jesse and Erin get jettisoned in a pop culture questionnaire.
Reaper - The boys must use a sweater to absorb a slime demon. Gross, but amusing. Especially when apparently freddy kruger claws are needed to extract them from the slimed saturated sweater.
Law and Order: SVU - An episode on torture where a "doctor" helps design "benign" means of torturing women but forgets all about the followup where apparently heart attacks are common. Excellent episode that covers the pro and con arguments to torture. I personally fall on the con as I don't see how torture results in good intel. People are just going to say what they think people want to here. Course the government hides the ratio of good intel vs bad intel that rose from torture, probably because they know the percentage would be unacceptably low.
NCIS - Guy gets shot, turns out the wife, really a spy, did it. The more fun part was the B story of Abby getting a job offer and how the rumor mill escalated the offer.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
TV Quick Hits 10/22
Chuck - Chuck helps save the brother if a Chinese spy, screwing his best bud and sister by not spending time with them. Needy folks. The man is getting laid (supposedly) and they trying to interfere. Another good show, about my only complaint is the bizarre half second pause of action here and there. It seemed completely random and did absolutely nothing except making you go "wtf?".
Heroes - Matt (and Nathan) finds his dad, who proceeds to trap him in a nightmare of his own creation but they manage to get out of it. Nici is trying to be "cured" of her power via the company. The New Orleans cousin play with their powers some more. Hiro shows up briefly but nothing really happens. Kristen Bell made her appearance looking better then ever but basically playing Veronica Mars in permanent bitch mode. Her assignment is to hunt down Peter, but no clear if its to capture or kill. Her power is electricty, which explains where Peter got his from ep 2. On the plus side, the Plague Twins didn't make an appearance.
How I Met Your Mother - Another hilarious ep, this time covering how the gang met each other (basically roommate in college and at the bar) while out with a hot but crazy girl at the bar. Its also added something to the pop culture venacular, the "Vicky Mendoza Diagonal", where Hot is on the Y axis, crazy on the X. The line starts from 0 with a slop of 1. Basically plot where the girl lies on the graph (crazy, hot). If the dot is above, then the crazy is worth the hotness and if below the line then the hot isn't worth the crazy. Pretty genius, I hope it becomes a running joke on the show. Another genius is the girl's name "blah, blah" because Ted simply couldn't remember her name when relating the story of the crazy girl.
CSI: Miami - Dina Meyer guests (the wife). Fan of hers, partly because of her role choices but mostly she is gorgeous. Doesn't get much work though. Barely used here. Another guest of interest is Claire Coffee (the reporter) who was looking pretty good in the ep, a look she should keep. Hormonal comments aside, the ep was about a pro football player that is murdered with wife, various lovers, agent, and a ambitious obituary reporter, its discovered that one of his lovers stabbed him for refusing to help his dying illegitimate child and the wife finished the kill 40 minutes later (kind of, by pulling the knife out of his neck causing him to bleed to death).
Heroes - Matt (and Nathan) finds his dad, who proceeds to trap him in a nightmare of his own creation but they manage to get out of it. Nici is trying to be "cured" of her power via the company. The New Orleans cousin play with their powers some more. Hiro shows up briefly but nothing really happens. Kristen Bell made her appearance looking better then ever but basically playing Veronica Mars in permanent bitch mode. Her assignment is to hunt down Peter, but no clear if its to capture or kill. Her power is electricty, which explains where Peter got his from ep 2. On the plus side, the Plague Twins didn't make an appearance.
How I Met Your Mother - Another hilarious ep, this time covering how the gang met each other (basically roommate in college and at the bar) while out with a hot but crazy girl at the bar. Its also added something to the pop culture venacular, the "Vicky Mendoza Diagonal", where Hot is on the Y axis, crazy on the X. The line starts from 0 with a slop of 1. Basically plot where the girl lies on the graph (crazy, hot). If the dot is above, then the crazy is worth the hotness and if below the line then the hot isn't worth the crazy. Pretty genius, I hope it becomes a running joke on the show. Another genius is the girl's name "blah, blah" because Ted simply couldn't remember her name when relating the story of the crazy girl.
CSI: Miami - Dina Meyer guests (the wife). Fan of hers, partly because of her role choices but mostly she is gorgeous. Doesn't get much work though. Barely used here. Another guest of interest is Claire Coffee (the reporter) who was looking pretty good in the ep, a look she should keep. Hormonal comments aside, the ep was about a pro football player that is murdered with wife, various lovers, agent, and a ambitious obituary reporter, its discovered that one of his lovers stabbed him for refusing to help his dying illegitimate child and the wife finished the kill 40 minutes later (kind of, by pulling the knife out of his neck causing him to bleed to death).
TV Quick Hits 10/21
Desperate Housewives - Susan pisses off a new gay couple in various ways including dog napping. Bree's ex-dead-husband's mother pays a visit and discovers the fake baby scam thing and interferes by whisking away her daughter. Edie got crabs, gave it to Carlos, who gave it to Gabby, who gave it her husband. Via the use of the crab medicine, Edie now knows Carlos is cheating on her with Gabby. Lynette and her man discover better sex via wigs. Basically a silly episode all around, especially the Susan stuff.
Brothers and Sisters - The army brother is getting addicted to his pain medicine. The wine owning brother is tempted (did, not clear) to cheat on his wife who has taken a sabbatical because their son died shortly after birth (last season). Ally McBeal, 6ft Under and Sally go to a spa...and really nothing happens. Basically a tune out episode with me only vaguely paying attention to what occurred.
Cold Case - The female portion of a pair of grifters dies after being in a coma for 20 years from a gunshot. Obviously her partner and other marks are suspected. As is often the case for this show, it was love that caused her death as her partner (and apparently son) turned on her and the mark killed her in a $3 million dollar insurance scam (that turned out not to be a scam since she actually died rather then the one made to look like her). Convoluted story, more creative then most their stories. Is it me or is Kathryn Morris looking a bit on the creepy side, like her head is now to big for her body? Usually that's a sign of anorexia, which would be a damn shame cause she was a stunner, but skeletons don't look good to me.
Shark - A science building floor goes boom. First the FBI thinks its a student that fits their profile but one of Shark's team say "nay! I say thee nay!!!" after the kids attempts suicide. Ok would have been awesome if said it that way, but anyway turns out a couple goes up that for nooky and the ex-boyfriend wanted revenge for daring to break up with him. Sharks does his legal mumbo jumbo and bad guy goes to jail and poor innocent student goes back to school under the awkward looks of people knowing they screwed up cause despite being in college they forget that accusation of guilt and actually being guilty are two different things.
Brothers and Sisters - The army brother is getting addicted to his pain medicine. The wine owning brother is tempted (did, not clear) to cheat on his wife who has taken a sabbatical because their son died shortly after birth (last season). Ally McBeal, 6ft Under and Sally go to a spa...and really nothing happens. Basically a tune out episode with me only vaguely paying attention to what occurred.
Cold Case - The female portion of a pair of grifters dies after being in a coma for 20 years from a gunshot. Obviously her partner and other marks are suspected. As is often the case for this show, it was love that caused her death as her partner (and apparently son) turned on her and the mark killed her in a $3 million dollar insurance scam (that turned out not to be a scam since she actually died rather then the one made to look like her). Convoluted story, more creative then most their stories. Is it me or is Kathryn Morris looking a bit on the creepy side, like her head is now to big for her body? Usually that's a sign of anorexia, which would be a damn shame cause she was a stunner, but skeletons don't look good to me.
Shark - A science building floor goes boom. First the FBI thinks its a student that fits their profile but one of Shark's team say "nay! I say thee nay!!!" after the kids attempts suicide. Ok would have been awesome if said it that way, but anyway turns out a couple goes up that for nooky and the ex-boyfriend wanted revenge for daring to break up with him. Sharks does his legal mumbo jumbo and bad guy goes to jail and poor innocent student goes back to school under the awkward looks of people knowing they screwed up cause despite being in college they forget that accusation of guilt and actually being guilty are two different things.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Kevin Rose On Captain America Cover
Kevin Rose, co-creator of Digg and Revision3, got a little comic book immortality by being on the cover of Captain America The Chosen #6. He is the one with the Diggnation (a podcast about the top "diggs" on digg.com) shirt on. I use to follow him back in the The Screensavers (check out TWIT w/ Leo Laporte btw) and then Attack of the Show days before he hit the gold mine of digg.com. Suffice it to say I am jealous of his successes.Now the connection isn't made up as cover artist Mitch Breitweiser confirmed the connection and would have added co-host Alex but "couldn't in good conscience because he's a Windows user." Congrats Kevin.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Week 4 New Season 10/19
Women's Murder Club - Jill (Laura Harris) has a new boss Denise who is played by Linda Park, who was absolutely gorgeous in Enterprise but here not so much. Not sure why but something is off about her looks. To thin? Bad hair? I don't know but something is off about her. Anyway, the main story is a subway shooting kills many including a vet and the club must track down the killer. Being a tv show, they get their man and all is right with the world. Considering the material, the show is oddly light but balanced pretty decently. Aubrey Dollar, as Cindy is still channeling Anne Hathaway and looking fantastic doing it.
Moonlight - Vampire gets stuck in the desert (cause sun drains them, not kill them), get dehyrated (lack of blood) and the hottie comes and offers up a wrist to restore him. Witness testifies and bad guy goes to jail. Decent show, modified take on vampires, not bad ep overall.
Numbers - Andrea Roth guest stars. For me thats pretty much all I needed to know. Had a crush on her since her Robocop The Series days (played the ghost). Like fine wine, she has just gotten better and more gorgeous over the years. Oh and the story is about a guy that uses the "mystical" nature of numbers (Numerology) in leaving hints towards his kills.
Friday Night Lights - Being to lazy to look up names, will use nasty shorthands. Lets see, Panthers win first game but barely. The new coach is an idiot cause building the offense on smash. The old coach wants to come back because his family is falling apart (and his ex-team). The wheelchair guy heads to Mexico for stem-cell surgury for the legs (cause Mexico is famous for its breakthroughs in absolutely nothing). The new found choir girl is hot but boring. Oh and the two killers are giving each other nooky cause in fantasy land the hot girl does the nice geek. I guess it will keep fans happy but I thought the show was going for realism but with this couple its jump the shark time already. Oh and Connie Britton, even when trying to look like crap, still looks amazing.
Las Vegas - The concierge girl, cute as a button, teaches a boy how to land a girl. Something about being nice (utter BS). Cooper gets blackmailed for murder but the guys come to his rescue. Deliah thinks that taking care of eggs (like in high school) is a sign of parental skill (ug so stupid). So basically the slide continues.
Stargate: Atlantis - Mini Flash Forward (Disney show from early 90s) reunion today with Jewel Staite and Amanda Tapping (both regulars on that show). The crush I had on Jewel (she also of Firefly, sadly cancelled) since then and continues today as she remains simply stunning. The ep itself was shades of Nightmare on Elm Street as an entity jumps from host to host causing severe nightmares. Its escalates to killing with the death of occasional character Dr. Kate Heightmeyer (beautiful Clair Rankin). Rodney gets infected, so John and him hook up in each others dreams stopping the bad guy. Decent ep, but lots of screentime for Jewel so I was a happy camper
Moonlight - Vampire gets stuck in the desert (cause sun drains them, not kill them), get dehyrated (lack of blood) and the hottie comes and offers up a wrist to restore him. Witness testifies and bad guy goes to jail. Decent show, modified take on vampires, not bad ep overall.
Numbers - Andrea Roth guest stars. For me thats pretty much all I needed to know. Had a crush on her since her Robocop The Series days (played the ghost). Like fine wine, she has just gotten better and more gorgeous over the years. Oh and the story is about a guy that uses the "mystical" nature of numbers (Numerology) in leaving hints towards his kills.
Friday Night Lights - Being to lazy to look up names, will use nasty shorthands. Lets see, Panthers win first game but barely. The new coach is an idiot cause building the offense on smash. The old coach wants to come back because his family is falling apart (and his ex-team). The wheelchair guy heads to Mexico for stem-cell surgury for the legs (cause Mexico is famous for its breakthroughs in absolutely nothing). The new found choir girl is hot but boring. Oh and the two killers are giving each other nooky cause in fantasy land the hot girl does the nice geek. I guess it will keep fans happy but I thought the show was going for realism but with this couple its jump the shark time already. Oh and Connie Britton, even when trying to look like crap, still looks amazing.
Las Vegas - The concierge girl, cute as a button, teaches a boy how to land a girl. Something about being nice (utter BS). Cooper gets blackmailed for murder but the guys come to his rescue. Deliah thinks that taking care of eggs (like in high school) is a sign of parental skill (ug so stupid). So basically the slide continues.
Stargate: Atlantis - Mini Flash Forward (Disney show from early 90s) reunion today with Jewel Staite and Amanda Tapping (both regulars on that show). The crush I had on Jewel (she also of Firefly, sadly cancelled) since then and continues today as she remains simply stunning. The ep itself was shades of Nightmare on Elm Street as an entity jumps from host to host causing severe nightmares. Its escalates to killing with the death of occasional character Dr. Kate Heightmeyer (beautiful Clair Rankin). Rodney gets infected, so John and him hook up in each others dreams stopping the bad guy. Decent ep, but lots of screentime for Jewel so I was a happy camper
Week 4 New Season 10/18
Smallville - For some reason Chloe is wigging out that she is a freak, even though she only used the power once, its the gift of life, and the only disruption its caused is self inflicted by the bizarre and sudden break-up with Jimmy at the end of the ep. Allison Mack does an excellent job (with a lovely bod) but really this ep was all over the place and pretty crappy setup all around. Dean Cain is played an immortal, one assumes Vandal Savage, but this intro episode was pretty bad. Also, somehow, the Martian Manhunter, knows Kara and her family.
Supernatural - Funny episode involving a cursed rabbit's foot. If own it have insane luck, but lose it and get insane bad luck that could kill. The ep also introduces the stunning Lauren Cohan (with a British accent) for a dose of needed estrogen as a rival bounty hunter. Rival in the sense that she likes to steal cursed objects and sell them.
Gray's Anatomy - Torres (Sara Ramirez, stunning woman) goes off verbally on Izzy (Katherine Heigl, yums too but something about her I don't like) for stealing her man. Other stuff too, but that was the only plot line that interested me.
Big Shots - Duncan decides to give monogamy a go with Lisbeth (drool worthy Paige Turco), and manages to dodge a few tempations including a naked Emmanuelle Vaugier (like any sane man could resist her naked). Lisbeth, on the other hand, decides to jump Terrence (The Dresden Files, hate that got cancelled). Meanwhile James (Michael Varton) gets laid by a consultant making Katie (Nia Long) jealous who loses her mind, in a way out of character as established from the previous episodes. And Karl (Joshua Malina) finds a man for Marla (hmm Jessica Collins), but didn't mean to. Wendy (yums Amy Sloan) remains oblivious of his cheating. Decent ep, but not enough Christopher Titus (still sucks his show was cancelled).
Survivor - Another person gone. This time from one of those annoying "shake things up" producer moves. In this case each tribe was told to pick the best two players of the opposing tribe. Obviousily the Zhan Hu tribe benefits the most from this move and the other tribe not at all. Its the yearly crap move of "how do we rebalance the tribes?" crap. I find it frustrating because the player is jettisoned more because of what the producers do rather then what the player did or did not do. Credit though to Peih-Gee for the brilliant stragedy of coming up with the plan to purposedly throw the next two eviction challenges to eliminate the two interlopers. That way when the merge occurs at 10 or so players (usually but not always), then the tribes will be represented equally (5 each) making for more competitive homestretch to the end. The girls though are horrible at hiding their intentions with an obvious throwing of the challange and then giggling and smiling about it. Gamemanship they do not have. Jeff called them on this move, one of the reasons I like him as host because its not all sunshine and light. As a result, Aaron was kicked and he simply didn't deserve to go.
CSI - Boy with boobs hangs and his neighbor shot to death. They thought he was killed as a hate crime but he just hated himself cause of his man-boobs. The neighbor died because he discovered that the areas drinking water was contaminiated (cause the boy's boobs) and killed by the boy's mother who thought he had caused the boy's depression. A side story is Grissom proposes to Sara, who accepts (but Jorja Fox is leaving the show so guess gets cold feet). The B story is Sara investigates the death of a body found at a contruction site, apparently killed in 196- for trying to dig up info on the mob running a casino at the time. A story interesting, B story pointless.
My Name Is Earl - Goofy episode where everyone decides to make up a short story, all of which are really off the wall and strange. More silly then amusing, I didn't particularily like the episode.
30 Rock - Great episode. Jack thinks he is up for GM chairmanship so much reluctanly part with his large cookie jar collection, since wierd hobbies don't fly in the corporate world. Meanwhile, Jenna is apparently funnier the fatter she is so Kenneth is trying to fatten her up again. Tina gets in a fight with Tracy's wife.
The Office - Michael is working two jobs because the girlfriend (Melora Hardin) is spending all his money and then some. The gorgeous Hardin continues to massive cleavage (how they do that?) continuing the fake boobs from last season. I wonder when she will pop up on Monk again (she is his dead wife). Big fan of the women, another one of those that simply gets more beautiful with age. Dwight has a bed and breakfast and finally gets over Angela with a little assitance from Jim, who explains why he left Scranton that first time (his unrequited feelings for Pam.
Supernatural - Funny episode involving a cursed rabbit's foot. If own it have insane luck, but lose it and get insane bad luck that could kill. The ep also introduces the stunning Lauren Cohan (with a British accent) for a dose of needed estrogen as a rival bounty hunter. Rival in the sense that she likes to steal cursed objects and sell them.
Gray's Anatomy - Torres (Sara Ramirez, stunning woman) goes off verbally on Izzy (Katherine Heigl, yums too but something about her I don't like) for stealing her man. Other stuff too, but that was the only plot line that interested me.
Big Shots - Duncan decides to give monogamy a go with Lisbeth (drool worthy Paige Turco), and manages to dodge a few tempations including a naked Emmanuelle Vaugier (like any sane man could resist her naked). Lisbeth, on the other hand, decides to jump Terrence (The Dresden Files, hate that got cancelled). Meanwhile James (Michael Varton) gets laid by a consultant making Katie (Nia Long) jealous who loses her mind, in a way out of character as established from the previous episodes. And Karl (Joshua Malina) finds a man for Marla (hmm Jessica Collins), but didn't mean to. Wendy (yums Amy Sloan) remains oblivious of his cheating. Decent ep, but not enough Christopher Titus (still sucks his show was cancelled).
Survivor - Another person gone. This time from one of those annoying "shake things up" producer moves. In this case each tribe was told to pick the best two players of the opposing tribe. Obviousily the Zhan Hu tribe benefits the most from this move and the other tribe not at all. Its the yearly crap move of "how do we rebalance the tribes?" crap. I find it frustrating because the player is jettisoned more because of what the producers do rather then what the player did or did not do. Credit though to Peih-Gee for the brilliant stragedy of coming up with the plan to purposedly throw the next two eviction challenges to eliminate the two interlopers. That way when the merge occurs at 10 or so players (usually but not always), then the tribes will be represented equally (5 each) making for more competitive homestretch to the end. The girls though are horrible at hiding their intentions with an obvious throwing of the challange and then giggling and smiling about it. Gamemanship they do not have. Jeff called them on this move, one of the reasons I like him as host because its not all sunshine and light. As a result, Aaron was kicked and he simply didn't deserve to go.
CSI - Boy with boobs hangs and his neighbor shot to death. They thought he was killed as a hate crime but he just hated himself cause of his man-boobs. The neighbor died because he discovered that the areas drinking water was contaminiated (cause the boy's boobs) and killed by the boy's mother who thought he had caused the boy's depression. A side story is Grissom proposes to Sara, who accepts (but Jorja Fox is leaving the show so guess gets cold feet). The B story is Sara investigates the death of a body found at a contruction site, apparently killed in 196- for trying to dig up info on the mob running a casino at the time. A story interesting, B story pointless.
My Name Is Earl - Goofy episode where everyone decides to make up a short story, all of which are really off the wall and strange. More silly then amusing, I didn't particularily like the episode.
30 Rock - Great episode. Jack thinks he is up for GM chairmanship so much reluctanly part with his large cookie jar collection, since wierd hobbies don't fly in the corporate world. Meanwhile, Jenna is apparently funnier the fatter she is so Kenneth is trying to fatten her up again. Tina gets in a fight with Tracy's wife.
The Office - Michael is working two jobs because the girlfriend (Melora Hardin) is spending all his money and then some. The gorgeous Hardin continues to massive cleavage (how they do that?) continuing the fake boobs from last season. I wonder when she will pop up on Monk again (she is his dead wife). Big fan of the women, another one of those that simply gets more beautiful with age. Dwight has a bed and breakfast and finally gets over Angela with a little assitance from Jim, who explains why he left Scranton that first time (his unrequited feelings for Pam.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Week 4 New Season 10/17
Pushing Daises - Chuck learns her un-death cost the life of another. But the other guy stole from the dead so the guilt is brief. Bizarre episode, Kristen Chenoweth is breathtaking. It was just an ok ep.
Private Practice - Blah blah blah blah. That's all I got from the ep.
Dirty Sexy Money - This show doesn't really interest me that much but the women in it or just so damn beautiful. All of them but I especially Natalie Zea, Samaire Armstrong (looking best ever with that shoulder length hair, and Zoe McLellan (most gorgeous of the bunch and that smile...). In this ep, Karen tries to screw things up with Lisa but fails. King Darling learns from Queen Darling that one of his kids isn't his, but the audience isn't told which one, so Nick has an unknown sibling. Also Nick went to Italy to get a bottle of wine that would get a secret agent man to tell him what work he did for his dad, he apparently switched to a new boss without telling anyone. So forward movements on stories, somewhat interesting, but more sexy Zoe suits me just fine.
Bionic Woman - Sigh. Same complaints. Lots of wasted potential, no imagination, annoying sister subplot continues.
Life - Excellent but also bizarre show. Gay man killed, turns out to be a frame so a wife can leave her husband and keep his money.
Criminial Minds - Creepy ep where foster brothers kill entire families on the theory that its saving the kids from future pain of bad parents and foster care. Tragic episode all around.
Private Practice - Blah blah blah blah. That's all I got from the ep.
Dirty Sexy Money - This show doesn't really interest me that much but the women in it or just so damn beautiful. All of them but I especially Natalie Zea, Samaire Armstrong (looking best ever with that shoulder length hair, and Zoe McLellan (most gorgeous of the bunch and that smile...). In this ep, Karen tries to screw things up with Lisa but fails. King Darling learns from Queen Darling that one of his kids isn't his, but the audience isn't told which one, so Nick has an unknown sibling. Also Nick went to Italy to get a bottle of wine that would get a secret agent man to tell him what work he did for his dad, he apparently switched to a new boss without telling anyone. So forward movements on stories, somewhat interesting, but more sexy Zoe suits me just fine.
Bionic Woman - Sigh. Same complaints. Lots of wasted potential, no imagination, annoying sister subplot continues.
Life - Excellent but also bizarre show. Gay man killed, turns out to be a frame so a wife can leave her husband and keep his money.
Criminial Minds - Creepy ep where foster brothers kill entire families on the theory that its saving the kids from future pain of bad parents and foster care. Tragic episode all around.
Week 4 New Season 10/16
NCIS - Meh episode. Had Stargate: Atlantis' Torri Higginson in a brief guest role as potential paramour for Ducky. Murder committed, murderer found.
Boston Legal - Career military man comes out as gay, gets discharged, sues and wins. Yeah right. But Saffron Burrows looked simply breathtaking throughout.
Beauty and the Beast - The geek makeover edition. Another twosome got ejected. The contests still suck.
Reaper - Hilarious and bizarre show. Our heroes must track down a magician that kills his on stage guests. With a pigeon. Hijinks ensue. I was entertained. Mission accomplished.
Law and Order: SVU - Sad things happen.
Boston Legal - Career military man comes out as gay, gets discharged, sues and wins. Yeah right. But Saffron Burrows looked simply breathtaking throughout.
Beauty and the Beast - The geek makeover edition. Another twosome got ejected. The contests still suck.
Reaper - Hilarious and bizarre show. Our heroes must track down a magician that kills his on stage guests. With a pigeon. Hijinks ensue. I was entertained. Mission accomplished.
Law and Order: SVU - Sad things happen.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
The Wilheim Scream
ABC News ran a report that finally gives a little historical insight into the Wilheim scream. A scream you have probably heard often but may not have connected as being the same from its use in Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and 112 other films (see film collage below for some).
The scream is believed to have been first used in Distant Drums (1951) when recorded by Sheb Wooley, but the voice isn't 100% confirmed. The scream was recycled for a character named Private Wilheim (hence the name of the scream) in The Charge of Feather River (1953) when he was shot with an arrow. The scream was reused again in Them! (1954), Land of the Pharoahs (1955) and The Green Berets (1963).
The traditional of the scream was renewed by Ben Burtt when worked together with Richard Anderson on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Anderson then used it again on Poltergeist (1982) and many other movies after that, most recently Madagascar (2005). So the 55 year tradition of the scream continues, no telling what future movies it will pop up in.
The scream is believed to have been first used in Distant Drums (1951) when recorded by Sheb Wooley, but the voice isn't 100% confirmed. The scream was recycled for a character named Private Wilheim (hence the name of the scream) in The Charge of Feather River (1953) when he was shot with an arrow. The scream was reused again in Them! (1954), Land of the Pharoahs (1955) and The Green Berets (1963).
The traditional of the scream was renewed by Ben Burtt when worked together with Richard Anderson on Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). Anderson then used it again on Poltergeist (1982) and many other movies after that, most recently Madagascar (2005). So the 55 year tradition of the scream continues, no telling what future movies it will pop up in.
End of the Analog TV at Best Buy
An end of a television era begins as Best Buy is the first major retailer to stop selling analog TVs in favor of LCD and plasma screens.
I am still a user of the analog TV and sad to see it go the way of the dinosaurs. But only because I can't afford to replace my TV with a plasma.
I am still a user of the analog TV and sad to see it go the way of the dinosaurs. But only because I can't afford to replace my TV with a plasma.
Die Hard 4 DVD with Electronic Copy
20th Century Fox Home entertainment announced its rolling out a new program to make available an electronic copy of select movies for play on portable video players starting with Die Hard 4 on November 20th and Warner Bros will do the same later with Harry Potter 5.An app called Digital Copy will launch when placed into a computer giving the user the option to play the movie or transfer the movie to Windows based computer or player. The format is made for "PlaysforSure" players so assume it will be wma so iPod users may be left out unless convert first. Of note is the copy is DRM free (but requires a 16bit code similar to computer software), an interesting adjustment from the pirate paranoid member of the MPAA.
Considering that normally getting an electronic copy of a movie can cost up to $10 via iTunes, its a pretty good extra incentive to get the special feature DVD. Also, this will make for an interesting test pilot to see if making movies available DRM free will help or hurt DVD sales. I think the impact will be zero to be honest. Unlike the MPAA's assumptions, I think most users that pirate a copy had no intention of buying one to begin with. Its not a lost sale because there was never an intention to buy to begin with.
Regardless, this is an idea worth supporting. I planned on buying Die Hard 4 anyway, but now I will make sure to get the special edition for my portable player.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Week 4 New Season 10/15
CSI: Miami - Tim Speedle (killed when Rory Cochran decided to leave the show) returns via hallucianations from Eric that eventually lead to the probable firing of a lab tech for using Speedle's credit card. Credit card debt being the theme where apparently college age couple apparently don't understand the concept of "debt" and "credit limits" and how you have to pay that back. So they try to kill themselves. The girl succeeds, the boy chickens out and kills the man that talked them into signing up for the credit card. Bizarre episode overall.
Chuck - I now have decided this is my favorite show of the new season. Highly entertaining and the women, both lead and guest, are just so damn gorgeous. In this ep, Chuck has to help steal a diamond from drug dealer who is keeping it for terrorists. Failure means money for the terrorists groups to do terrorists things. Guns get pointed, people get kicked, Chuck gets propositioned several times and sexiness abounds.
Heroes - The story moves along at a glacier pace. Silar somehow appears from the middle of a rain forest into the middle of a Mexican road and gets picked up by the annoying and boring Plague Twins (whose death count rivals Silar, not exactly something to feel sympathy for). I feel teased by thoughts of him killing them but it doesn't happen. Petrelli and MAtt, working together to clear Angela P, find a picture that shows the leadership of the Company (and 1st generation of Heroes), many that are familiar faces from the previous and current season. Also the girl "reveals" that Matt's father is the "nightmare man" that could be killing the 1st gen heroes. I smell misdirection. Heredity seems to be a theme for powers but not necessarily a requirement. Stuff going on with Uhura (wee Nichelle Nichols), Micah and family in New Orleans, but kind of didn't really care. Claire on a date with dickhead flying boy who rubs me the wrong way. The death of mop head would be a fantastic story development but the 8 painting subplot suggests stuck with him to end of the season. Peter, Hiro, and others took a break this episode.
Journeyman - Rescues a hotty from one of her boyfriends and the crap between his wife gets worse from his disappearances. Meh episode.
Chuck - I now have decided this is my favorite show of the new season. Highly entertaining and the women, both lead and guest, are just so damn gorgeous. In this ep, Chuck has to help steal a diamond from drug dealer who is keeping it for terrorists. Failure means money for the terrorists groups to do terrorists things. Guns get pointed, people get kicked, Chuck gets propositioned several times and sexiness abounds.
Heroes - The story moves along at a glacier pace. Silar somehow appears from the middle of a rain forest into the middle of a Mexican road and gets picked up by the annoying and boring Plague Twins (whose death count rivals Silar, not exactly something to feel sympathy for). I feel teased by thoughts of him killing them but it doesn't happen. Petrelli and MAtt, working together to clear Angela P, find a picture that shows the leadership of the Company (and 1st generation of Heroes), many that are familiar faces from the previous and current season. Also the girl "reveals" that Matt's father is the "nightmare man" that could be killing the 1st gen heroes. I smell misdirection. Heredity seems to be a theme for powers but not necessarily a requirement. Stuff going on with Uhura (wee Nichelle Nichols), Micah and family in New Orleans, but kind of didn't really care. Claire on a date with dickhead flying boy who rubs me the wrong way. The death of mop head would be a fantastic story development but the 8 painting subplot suggests stuck with him to end of the season. Peter, Hiro, and others took a break this episode.
Journeyman - Rescues a hotty from one of her boyfriends and the crap between his wife gets worse from his disappearances. Meh episode.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Week 3 New Season 10/14
Sunday cartoon and goofy people night. Mostly.
Simpsons - Strange and boring ep of Marge getting held hostage at a bank and agreeing to meet the guy while in prison, but not, so gets kidnapped.
King of the Hill - Another wierd one where locals take over a surfing ride at a water park acting like they are surfers. Bobby and co want to ride but not allowed so Boomhauer has to re-tap his surfing abilities to give them access. Ug episode.
Family Guy - A repeat from last season where the town decides Stewie is possesed by the devil and needs to be exercised so the family moves to Texas (the copyright court morons of the world among other things) and lots of fun making of Texans (apparently deserved if Bush is any indication) occurs. Somewhat funny episode.
American Dad - Stan decides to destroy a man so he will believe in God. Meanwhile Steve is tricked by Roger into thinking he is going to the American Hogwarts but the potions class is actually mixing cocaine together. Basically another odd and only somewhat funny show.
Desperate Housewives - The neighbor still has a secret. Eddy still making Carlos marry her. Bree is still hiding the pregnancy. Basically the main story arc moved not a bit in this ep but the ladies looked good doing nothing.
Brothers and Sisters - Honestly completely forgot most of the episode. Something about the senator being threatend by his ex-wife but his fiance coming to the rescue. Sure other stuff happened but didn't care.
Cold Case - The jealous bully did it. A Elvis-lite is killed in 53 cause the bully wasn't the center of everyone's universe and he learned his mother wanted more then to be a housewife and the dad was cheating. Somehow it was Elvis's fault. Meh episode.
Shark - Coroner kills someone cause apparnetly was discovered fixing cases in what later is learned against innocent people. Apparently she was batting .000 in people she helped put to jail. So just a bad cororner all around.
Simpsons - Strange and boring ep of Marge getting held hostage at a bank and agreeing to meet the guy while in prison, but not, so gets kidnapped.
King of the Hill - Another wierd one where locals take over a surfing ride at a water park acting like they are surfers. Bobby and co want to ride but not allowed so Boomhauer has to re-tap his surfing abilities to give them access. Ug episode.
Family Guy - A repeat from last season where the town decides Stewie is possesed by the devil and needs to be exercised so the family moves to Texas (the copyright court morons of the world among other things) and lots of fun making of Texans (apparently deserved if Bush is any indication) occurs. Somewhat funny episode.
American Dad - Stan decides to destroy a man so he will believe in God. Meanwhile Steve is tricked by Roger into thinking he is going to the American Hogwarts but the potions class is actually mixing cocaine together. Basically another odd and only somewhat funny show.
Desperate Housewives - The neighbor still has a secret. Eddy still making Carlos marry her. Bree is still hiding the pregnancy. Basically the main story arc moved not a bit in this ep but the ladies looked good doing nothing.
Brothers and Sisters - Honestly completely forgot most of the episode. Something about the senator being threatend by his ex-wife but his fiance coming to the rescue. Sure other stuff happened but didn't care.
Cold Case - The jealous bully did it. A Elvis-lite is killed in 53 cause the bully wasn't the center of everyone's universe and he learned his mother wanted more then to be a housewife and the dad was cheating. Somehow it was Elvis's fault. Meh episode.
Shark - Coroner kills someone cause apparnetly was discovered fixing cases in what later is learned against innocent people. Apparently she was batting .000 in people she helped put to jail. So just a bad cororner all around.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Week 3 New Season 10/12
Friday!
Women's Murder Club - Stupid title, decent show. Bit slow but the women look fantastic especially the Anne Hathawayish reporter played by Aubrey Dollar. FIrst ep was mostly to establish the characters and of course catch a murderer. Dum dum dum!!! I will sample for a few weeks to see if still like.
Moonlight - Rogue vampire on the loose killing and turning folks. The hero and his intrepid sidekick reporter step in and stop him. Yawn. Not sure if the wooden stake in the heart = frozen but alive vampire is a good idea or a crutch.
Numbers - Street racers do bad things and get busted things to psuedo-math. It was an eh ep, I tuned it out sometimes.
Stargate: Atlantis - Rohan's bud turn out to work for the Wraith. Probably the only ones that didn't see that twist from the first two minutes of the show was someone who hadn't seen it before. Ho hum ep for the first one with Carter as Commander. One plus is Amanda Tapping finally gets to wear her hair long and the improvement in the babe-o-meter is immediate.
Friday Night Lights - Basically the same as the first ep. Just more boring.
Las Vegas - Sam thinks she saw a murderer but everyone thinks she is crazy, course turns out she was right. Yawn.
Women's Murder Club - Stupid title, decent show. Bit slow but the women look fantastic especially the Anne Hathawayish reporter played by Aubrey Dollar. FIrst ep was mostly to establish the characters and of course catch a murderer. Dum dum dum!!! I will sample for a few weeks to see if still like.
Moonlight - Rogue vampire on the loose killing and turning folks. The hero and his intrepid sidekick reporter step in and stop him. Yawn. Not sure if the wooden stake in the heart = frozen but alive vampire is a good idea or a crutch.
Numbers - Street racers do bad things and get busted things to psuedo-math. It was an eh ep, I tuned it out sometimes.
Stargate: Atlantis - Rohan's bud turn out to work for the Wraith. Probably the only ones that didn't see that twist from the first two minutes of the show was someone who hadn't seen it before. Ho hum ep for the first one with Carter as Commander. One plus is Amanda Tapping finally gets to wear her hair long and the improvement in the babe-o-meter is immediate.
Friday Night Lights - Basically the same as the first ep. Just more boring.
Las Vegas - Sam thinks she saw a murderer but everyone thinks she is crazy, course turns out she was right. Yawn.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
New Season Week 3 10/11
Little late cause bit behind on the tapes.
Smallville -The new supergirl in a tiny bikini. Still not keen on the face but that body is amazing. Oh and apparently her lack of skill at her powers (yet can fly) almost reveals the to be Superman's secrets. Oh noes, the last five seasons wasted!
Supernatural - Dean has a kid! Of course he doesn't, but makes a useful B-story for the main kid succubus story. But the ex-gf is hot. Never seen her before but damn! Also a return to the family history with the discovery that anyone that knew the heroes mom has been killed in some way over the years.
Big Shots - Its being called a guys Sex in the City (but not as good) but really its more a male-centric Desperate Housewives. The situations are equally over the top, all the women are 10s up and down the age chain (not complaint as 40-something can be more beautiful and sexy then 20-something, see Paige Turco). One guy is worred about a transexual, another is jealous of the friendship his mistress has with his wife, another just seperated and already getting hotties jumping him, and the last is the Teri Hatcher comic relief. Its an entertaining show but I am thinking its days are numbered.
Ugly Betty - Why am I still watching this show? It bores me now. I don't even know what happened. I tried to watch, I really did but I just didn't care. When they get into the Betty family stuff I just cut off.
Grey's Anatomy - The Gray's fight, George leaves the wife and outed as a repeat intern, and Izzy loses an old guy after spending all day with him (cause doctors care that much, mmm hmm). Ok ep, better when gets that ER vibe, not so good when focuses entirely on the personal.
My Name is Earl - The origin of how the cast...er gang got together. It was a decent episode. Origins where hte usual strangeness involving pregnancy, robbery and crashing into FBI vans.
30 Rock - Uh no idea what happened. Didn't pay it much attention.
The Office - Mostly boring episode, funny bit with kidnapping a pizza delivery boy and an inspired bit with the guy from the Daily Show singing ABBA's Take A Chance using Cisco phones as the chorus.
Survivor - I don't know why people don't get the simple rules to last a while in the game. Its real simple. Think of it as a bunch of executives in a meeting that lasts for a month; pretend to work hard, don't order anyone around, and keep the talk light and positive. As soon as you are percieved as not working (its all about perception not actual), as soon as you start to be boss, as soon as start talking in realistic (but read as negative) then you get kicked. Yes, most people need to be ordered and are not self-starters but most of those people don't think of themselves that way so resent people telling them what to do (usually those that resent it tend to be incredibily lazy but if ask them they think they work their tales off). So there you go, if treat Survivor as one long executive meeting, you too have a chance to last to the end.
CSI - Girl kills family after priest tries to go all Excorist on her. Priest then kills her. Pretty gruesome episode all told.
Without a Trace - Reporter disappears cause her son's fiance betrayed him and killed her. I think your supposed to feel sorry for the girl but nope didn't and so was bored. Sympathy takes more then just a sad story to overcome horrible behavior.
Smallville -The new supergirl in a tiny bikini. Still not keen on the face but that body is amazing. Oh and apparently her lack of skill at her powers (yet can fly) almost reveals the to be Superman's secrets. Oh noes, the last five seasons wasted!
Supernatural - Dean has a kid! Of course he doesn't, but makes a useful B-story for the main kid succubus story. But the ex-gf is hot. Never seen her before but damn! Also a return to the family history with the discovery that anyone that knew the heroes mom has been killed in some way over the years.
Big Shots - Its being called a guys Sex in the City (but not as good) but really its more a male-centric Desperate Housewives. The situations are equally over the top, all the women are 10s up and down the age chain (not complaint as 40-something can be more beautiful and sexy then 20-something, see Paige Turco). One guy is worred about a transexual, another is jealous of the friendship his mistress has with his wife, another just seperated and already getting hotties jumping him, and the last is the Teri Hatcher comic relief. Its an entertaining show but I am thinking its days are numbered.
Ugly Betty - Why am I still watching this show? It bores me now. I don't even know what happened. I tried to watch, I really did but I just didn't care. When they get into the Betty family stuff I just cut off.
Grey's Anatomy - The Gray's fight, George leaves the wife and outed as a repeat intern, and Izzy loses an old guy after spending all day with him (cause doctors care that much, mmm hmm). Ok ep, better when gets that ER vibe, not so good when focuses entirely on the personal.
My Name is Earl - The origin of how the cast...er gang got together. It was a decent episode. Origins where hte usual strangeness involving pregnancy, robbery and crashing into FBI vans.
30 Rock - Uh no idea what happened. Didn't pay it much attention.
The Office - Mostly boring episode, funny bit with kidnapping a pizza delivery boy and an inspired bit with the guy from the Daily Show singing ABBA's Take A Chance using Cisco phones as the chorus.
Survivor - I don't know why people don't get the simple rules to last a while in the game. Its real simple. Think of it as a bunch of executives in a meeting that lasts for a month; pretend to work hard, don't order anyone around, and keep the talk light and positive. As soon as you are percieved as not working (its all about perception not actual), as soon as you start to be boss, as soon as start talking in realistic (but read as negative) then you get kicked. Yes, most people need to be ordered and are not self-starters but most of those people don't think of themselves that way so resent people telling them what to do (usually those that resent it tend to be incredibily lazy but if ask them they think they work their tales off). So there you go, if treat Survivor as one long executive meeting, you too have a chance to last to the end.
CSI - Girl kills family after priest tries to go all Excorist on her. Priest then kills her. Pretty gruesome episode all told.
Without a Trace - Reporter disappears cause her son's fiance betrayed him and killed her. I think your supposed to feel sorry for the girl but nope didn't and so was bored. Sympathy takes more then just a sad story to overcome horrible behavior.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Week 3 New Season 10/10
Whee Wednesday's shows.
Bionic Woman - If reports are true, then the musical chairs of showrunner has finally been won by Jason Katims (Roswell). Previous runners included Glen Morgan (X-Files), Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), and Jason Smilovic (Kidnapped). All of whom have the same thing in common - great at the one big idea that can create a TV show, but not the details that support the show. The result has been a series of shows whose central ideas where often poorly handled and boring, costing them audience numbers. Sound familiar? Yep, once again the lack of imagination reared its ugly head as the hero and the villain Bionic Women supposedly have to help each other out. Someone one can save the other. Details where sketchy on how. Anyway the problem is they are trying to make the villain a sympathetic one. Sure she killed 14+ people, nearly killed Jaime, and killed her unborn baby and fiance, but she is just misunderstood! Basically lack of pre-planning is the problem here. They want to keep the villain but can't figure out how. Making her straight up evil would have been entertaining but she knows so much about everything, you have problems of why she just doesn't do scorch earth as some point so the sympathetic angle. Except her history doesn't fuel sympathy. Flip flopping doesn't work. They need to stick with evil and limit her somehow, wipe her knowledge of Jamie and whatnot, something so can be an effective villain. The gorgeous sister can be her first victim as she does nothing for the show or the lead. Its still a poorly thought out add-on. A familiar theme for this show that has great potential that is being wasted.
Life - Sadly this show is just strange enough that it will probably be cancelled but the more I watch, the more I like. Its goofy but well done and the cast gives excellent performances.
South Park - Bono or "Biddy" vs Stan's Dad for the largest crap in the world. Not kidding. In the ep, its revealed that Bono is the largest crap in the world, birth during a movement. No, still not kidding. Also, some fun is had about their Emmy win. The over the top but hilarious storytelling continues. Pretty sure Bono isn't a happy man though.
Criminal Minds - Ex-psychiatrist uses patients fears to kill them. Interesting ep, for some reason didn't hold my attention.
CSI: NY - Guy robs places dressed like 007. Teammates turn on him. The CSI/cop/detective solves it. The usual.
Pushing Daisies - 2nd episode in and its still very strange. It has it own unique everything. From storytelling, to visuals, to characters and execution. Its actually pretty amazing and very entertaining. Highly recommend. Anna Friel remains drool worthy and its clear a directive came down to oomph her sex appeal as the cleavage was on display (not complaining). Kristin Chenoweth is already walking sex appeal so nothing needed to be done there. The now short hair works, but still prefer her long locks. The goofy story was a car tester dies, people are being killed to be car test dummies, a redhead goes boom (but survives), and a car is fueled by dandilions. Like I said, very unique show.
Bionic Woman - If reports are true, then the musical chairs of showrunner has finally been won by Jason Katims (Roswell). Previous runners included Glen Morgan (X-Files), Laeta Kalogridis (Alexander), and Jason Smilovic (Kidnapped). All of whom have the same thing in common - great at the one big idea that can create a TV show, but not the details that support the show. The result has been a series of shows whose central ideas where often poorly handled and boring, costing them audience numbers. Sound familiar? Yep, once again the lack of imagination reared its ugly head as the hero and the villain Bionic Women supposedly have to help each other out. Someone one can save the other. Details where sketchy on how. Anyway the problem is they are trying to make the villain a sympathetic one. Sure she killed 14+ people, nearly killed Jaime, and killed her unborn baby and fiance, but she is just misunderstood! Basically lack of pre-planning is the problem here. They want to keep the villain but can't figure out how. Making her straight up evil would have been entertaining but she knows so much about everything, you have problems of why she just doesn't do scorch earth as some point so the sympathetic angle. Except her history doesn't fuel sympathy. Flip flopping doesn't work. They need to stick with evil and limit her somehow, wipe her knowledge of Jamie and whatnot, something so can be an effective villain. The gorgeous sister can be her first victim as she does nothing for the show or the lead. Its still a poorly thought out add-on. A familiar theme for this show that has great potential that is being wasted.
Life - Sadly this show is just strange enough that it will probably be cancelled but the more I watch, the more I like. Its goofy but well done and the cast gives excellent performances.
South Park - Bono or "Biddy" vs Stan's Dad for the largest crap in the world. Not kidding. In the ep, its revealed that Bono is the largest crap in the world, birth during a movement. No, still not kidding. Also, some fun is had about their Emmy win. The over the top but hilarious storytelling continues. Pretty sure Bono isn't a happy man though.
Criminal Minds - Ex-psychiatrist uses patients fears to kill them. Interesting ep, for some reason didn't hold my attention.
CSI: NY - Guy robs places dressed like 007. Teammates turn on him. The CSI/cop/detective solves it. The usual.
Pushing Daisies - 2nd episode in and its still very strange. It has it own unique everything. From storytelling, to visuals, to characters and execution. Its actually pretty amazing and very entertaining. Highly recommend. Anna Friel remains drool worthy and its clear a directive came down to oomph her sex appeal as the cleavage was on display (not complaining). Kristin Chenoweth is already walking sex appeal so nothing needed to be done there. The now short hair works, but still prefer her long locks. The goofy story was a car tester dies, people are being killed to be car test dummies, a redhead goes boom (but survives), and a car is fueled by dandilions. Like I said, very unique show.
Week 3 New Season 10/9
More mini TV reviews.
Boston Legal - Don't even remember what happened. Call it the same o.
NCIS - Decent episode as the various loves of Gibbs gets together and creates ackwardness for him. Oh and someone was murdered but was caught.
Beauty and the Geek - Sign the shallow but gorgeous Rebecca was kicked from the show. It seems the hottest women are the ones going first. Otherwise the show still isn't as good as the first season as there seems to be no growth from anyone on the program.
Reaper - Ew bugs. At least in the beginning wiht a roach. After that if thankfully changed to crappy CGI bees. I don't even remember the gist of the story but was entertained.
Bones - Someone was killed. Someone was caught. I think. I tuned out half of it.
House - Hilarious. The Survivor motif (complete with flaming bunsun burners) could have fallen flat but instead it been incredibly entertaining and at this point I am going to be disppointed when the field is reduced to three as like most of the remaining "contestants". Its also contines to explore House in solid ways and amazingly enough showed how his previous three students where influenced by him. All in all, writing at its finest.
Law & Orde: SVU - Melissa Joan Hart guests as a teacher accused of statutory rape only to turn out to have been raped, given the clap, got preggers by the rapist, who turned out to be addicted to sex and can't control himself. He in turn is raped by an adult male just like him and settles for 1 million dollars. Basically the typical convuluted, tragic, but excellent SVU episode.
Boston Legal - Don't even remember what happened. Call it the same o.
NCIS - Decent episode as the various loves of Gibbs gets together and creates ackwardness for him. Oh and someone was murdered but was caught.
Beauty and the Geek - Sign the shallow but gorgeous Rebecca was kicked from the show. It seems the hottest women are the ones going first. Otherwise the show still isn't as good as the first season as there seems to be no growth from anyone on the program.
Reaper - Ew bugs. At least in the beginning wiht a roach. After that if thankfully changed to crappy CGI bees. I don't even remember the gist of the story but was entertained.
Bones - Someone was killed. Someone was caught. I think. I tuned out half of it.
House - Hilarious. The Survivor motif (complete with flaming bunsun burners) could have fallen flat but instead it been incredibly entertaining and at this point I am going to be disppointed when the field is reduced to three as like most of the remaining "contestants". Its also contines to explore House in solid ways and amazingly enough showed how his previous three students where influenced by him. All in all, writing at its finest.
Law & Orde: SVU - Melissa Joan Hart guests as a teacher accused of statutory rape only to turn out to have been raped, given the clap, got preggers by the rapist, who turned out to be addicted to sex and can't control himself. He in turn is raped by an adult male just like him and settles for 1 million dollars. Basically the typical convuluted, tragic, but excellent SVU episode.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Week 3 New Season 10/8
How I Met Your Mother - Danica McKellar. Still yummy as all get out and my jr high crush may become my adulthood crush.
CSI: Miami - Horatio's son is in trouble. Someone is murdered but it all works out in the end. Basically the same as every other episode. Yet I watch.
Prison Break - Sarah is officially dead, her head removed as a consequence of Lincoln attempting to break them out. In real life it was the result of the actress choosing to be a stay at home and raise her new child. Since she was "captured", keeping her off screen for a season or more would have been ludicrous leaving death as the only solution. Oh and the plans for the break continue.
Chuck - Chuck clumsily stops a beautiful arms dealer. The show is very entertaining and if not watching it, you should be.
Heroes - If you missed the last two episodes, well don't worry you haven't missed anything. For whatever reason, the pace so far this season is very very slow with very little development both character and storywise. Hopefully its intentional but two episodes (so far) of nada is not a good thing.
Journeyman - Decent episode but this show is toast, no way around it.
CSI: Miami - Horatio's son is in trouble. Someone is murdered but it all works out in the end. Basically the same as every other episode. Yet I watch.
Prison Break - Sarah is officially dead, her head removed as a consequence of Lincoln attempting to break them out. In real life it was the result of the actress choosing to be a stay at home and raise her new child. Since she was "captured", keeping her off screen for a season or more would have been ludicrous leaving death as the only solution. Oh and the plans for the break continue.
Chuck - Chuck clumsily stops a beautiful arms dealer. The show is very entertaining and if not watching it, you should be.
Heroes - If you missed the last two episodes, well don't worry you haven't missed anything. For whatever reason, the pace so far this season is very very slow with very little development both character and storywise. Hopefully its intentional but two episodes (so far) of nada is not a good thing.
Journeyman - Decent episode but this show is toast, no way around it.
Week 3 New Season 10/7
Week 3 has begun. Some shows should begin showing that they have started to find their sea legs and others may show how they are running on steam.
Desperate Housewives - At this point I just watch for the women and tend to do other things while this is on. Its still recycling stories and its just getting more and more boring.
Brothers & Sisters - I ...don't know why I keep watching this show to be honest. Its another one that I use mostly as background noise while doing other things.
Cold Case - Another murdered solved. Robyn Lively, a childhood crush, was looking pretty rough though as an Amish mother. Maybe it was the makeup (applied to not look like she had makeup on) but she just looked really tired.
Shark - Stuff happened. People where yelled out, justice was servred, and the attractive daughter continues to annoy.
Simpsons - Entertaining but goofy
King of the Hill - Entertaining
Family Guy - Hilarious but bizarre as all get out.
American Dad - Kind of tuned out this ep.
Desperate Housewives - At this point I just watch for the women and tend to do other things while this is on. Its still recycling stories and its just getting more and more boring.
Brothers & Sisters - I ...don't know why I keep watching this show to be honest. Its another one that I use mostly as background noise while doing other things.
Cold Case - Another murdered solved. Robyn Lively, a childhood crush, was looking pretty rough though as an Amish mother. Maybe it was the makeup (applied to not look like she had makeup on) but she just looked really tired.
Shark - Stuff happened. People where yelled out, justice was servred, and the attractive daughter continues to annoy.
Simpsons - Entertaining but goofy
King of the Hill - Entertaining
Family Guy - Hilarious but bizarre as all get out.
American Dad - Kind of tuned out this ep.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Week 2 New Season 10/5
TGIF!
Moonlight - The show has potential. This episode was pretty entertaining. Getting into the life, both past and present, of the vampire is not a bad idea. Getting into their "culture" would be even better. Sadly I doubt this show will last mid-season.
Numbers - Same o.
Friday Night Lights - A character committs murder. Technically it was self-defense but really he would be tossed in the slammer. For a show about football, this is a little too deep to be frank. Its a jump the shark moment to me. Which is pretty bad for a season 2 show. Also Lila is a born again. At least they have the fervency correct as born again don't have the life long filter so tend to take it way to far. It also makes for boring TV. Another bad choice. Then you have the coach who hasn't seen his family for 9 months because the writers last season wrote themselves into a stupid corner. Clearly, over the course of the next few eps, the current Panthers coach will take things to far and get fired. The hero coach, missing his family, will come back. Still it has Connie Britton who is a goddess. I like a lot of hotties on TV but she is the queen to me. Yummy
Las Vegas - Stuff happened. Don't remember what because I got bored. This season just isn't that interesting. I think it because the personal lives of the characters is most of the show now rather then some of the show. Also the fun is gone or at least dimisished. Something is missing and no its not Caan or god forbid that skeleton Nikki Cox. No the writing is missing something.
Stargate: Atlantis - The heroes win this battle once again. Sure its predictable but has great special effects, highly entertaining and really nothing similar on TV right now.
Moonlight - The show has potential. This episode was pretty entertaining. Getting into the life, both past and present, of the vampire is not a bad idea. Getting into their "culture" would be even better. Sadly I doubt this show will last mid-season.
Numbers - Same o.
Friday Night Lights - A character committs murder. Technically it was self-defense but really he would be tossed in the slammer. For a show about football, this is a little too deep to be frank. Its a jump the shark moment to me. Which is pretty bad for a season 2 show. Also Lila is a born again. At least they have the fervency correct as born again don't have the life long filter so tend to take it way to far. It also makes for boring TV. Another bad choice. Then you have the coach who hasn't seen his family for 9 months because the writers last season wrote themselves into a stupid corner. Clearly, over the course of the next few eps, the current Panthers coach will take things to far and get fired. The hero coach, missing his family, will come back. Still it has Connie Britton who is a goddess. I like a lot of hotties on TV but she is the queen to me. Yummy
Las Vegas - Stuff happened. Don't remember what because I got bored. This season just isn't that interesting. I think it because the personal lives of the characters is most of the show now rather then some of the show. Also the fun is gone or at least dimisished. Something is missing and no its not Caan or god forbid that skeleton Nikki Cox. No the writing is missing something.
Stargate: Atlantis - The heroes win this battle once again. Sure its predictable but has great special effects, highly entertaining and really nothing similar on TV right now.
Week 2 New Season 10/4
More mini-thoughts on the new season.
Ugly Betty - I don't even remember it was about I was so bored by it.
Grey's Anatomy - People where said. People want to hook up, others want to break up. Basically the same story as the previous 3 seasons. Does have Chyler Leigh though who is an poorly used hottie.
Big Shots - The show is ok. Its cute but not much else. Do like the gorgeous female cast led by the stunning Paige Turco and the lovely eyed Peyton List. I would rather the show focus on the female cast then the male frankly.
Survivor: China - Someone got kicked off the island.
CSI - Not bad episode. Kind of gross, with a guy losing his head to tire debris.
Without A Trace - Something happened. Don't know, faded out towards the end.
Smallville - Officially introduced Supergirl played by Laura Vandervoort. At a distance, the girl is gorgeous. Close up, the body is fantastic but the face not so much. The acting, well lets just say she needs some more schooling. For me though the hottie of the show remains Allison Mack.
Supernatural - Off to a banging start with the heroes going after the 7 Deadly Sins...but didn't know it. Its seems the goal of the show is to up the danger anty. Also nice is the Dean character has one year to live and his reaction is to basically eat and screw who he wants. For TV thats an oddly realistic reaction. Also amusingly handled on this show.
My Name is Earl - Early and his bro, back together again behind bars. Also gay prison dudes. It was funny thought.
30 Rock - The Seinfeld episode. Handled pretty well actually. Seinfeld seemed to cheerfully make fun of himself and the show enjoyed beating up on NBC.
The Office - Eh, it was alright. Didn't laugh that much.
ER - Same o.
Ugly Betty - I don't even remember it was about I was so bored by it.
Grey's Anatomy - People where said. People want to hook up, others want to break up. Basically the same story as the previous 3 seasons. Does have Chyler Leigh though who is an poorly used hottie.
Big Shots - The show is ok. Its cute but not much else. Do like the gorgeous female cast led by the stunning Paige Turco and the lovely eyed Peyton List. I would rather the show focus on the female cast then the male frankly.
Survivor: China - Someone got kicked off the island.
CSI - Not bad episode. Kind of gross, with a guy losing his head to tire debris.
Without A Trace - Something happened. Don't know, faded out towards the end.
Smallville - Officially introduced Supergirl played by Laura Vandervoort. At a distance, the girl is gorgeous. Close up, the body is fantastic but the face not so much. The acting, well lets just say she needs some more schooling. For me though the hottie of the show remains Allison Mack.
Supernatural - Off to a banging start with the heroes going after the 7 Deadly Sins...but didn't know it. Its seems the goal of the show is to up the danger anty. Also nice is the Dean character has one year to live and his reaction is to basically eat and screw who he wants. For TV thats an oddly realistic reaction. Also amusingly handled on this show.
My Name is Earl - Early and his bro, back together again behind bars. Also gay prison dudes. It was funny thought.
30 Rock - The Seinfeld episode. Handled pretty well actually. Seinfeld seemed to cheerfully make fun of himself and the show enjoyed beating up on NBC.
The Office - Eh, it was alright. Didn't laugh that much.
ER - Same o.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Week 2 New Season 10/3
Another day, more random thoughts on TV stuff.
Pushing Daisies - Good new show. Very creative. It reminds me of Tim Burton in its quirky but not as dark style. Anna Faris looks good. One major plot point of the story is how the hero can't touch the love of his life or she will die again. Considering the danger shouldn't he wear long sleeve shirts and gloves? Or at least have some distance between them? Something as simple as tripping and its all over for her. I don't know why but that just bothers me. Anyway, the show has a lot of potential. A good pilot, but are the rest as good and will the premise hold your attention? That part is undecided for me.
Private Practice - I want to like this show. It means well. One main problem is the male characters are more engaging then the female characters. That's not a good thing. Also its a little to emotional for me. For a room full of doctors they sure do leave the logic circuits on standby alot. One more ep and then I give up on it.
Dirty Sexy Money - Same thing as last week. The whining of the rich and famous just isn't that compelling. Zoe McCellan continues to make me drool. Short hair works on her. Love her look with long more, but the short is working and not many women can pull that off. More of her and I might like the show more.
Criminal Minds - The final exit of Mandy Patinkin. Considering the way he left the show, he got a relatively classy exit. Most would have him die in some unflattering form or fashion but he just exited as he left - unsure and in search of himself. Hats off to the creators for that.
CSI: NY - Same o same o. Don't even remember what it was about. I am guessing someone was murdered and caught. Actually that brings to mind a major complaint (beyond the usual CSI's do everything, why do they have cops and detectives again), is the 100% capture record. Have them fail. Have them not catch the bad guy, not solve the crime. A little more realism, especially for a show set in New York, wouldn't be a bad thing.
Back To You - Funny but formula sitcom. Its entertains me and is quickly forgotten about.
Bionic Women - This show is going to get cancelled. Its a shame but its on its death legs and doesn't even know it. Its not the fault of the concept or the actors. The skeleton is solid. The problem is the writers. I said it before and will say it again. They don't know what to do. They have no idea how to add meat to the bones. The show is suffering from a lack of imagination. Its just do darn formula for a show that should break the formula. The rules need to be tossed out and killing the boyfriend from a shoulder wound isn't a start. Lose the sister, lose the angst. Create a sense of mystery. Create real villains and dangers. Use the powers in unique ways. Don't know how to do that, take a turn from the other shows such as Heroes and Lost - hire a comic book writer. They have the minds to go in weird directions. Use em. It may be to late though. Sadly I think its damage done.
Life - I am sticking to this show. Its quirky and entertaining. I don't see it lasting the season as its strange enough that audiences will not stick with it, but I plan on enjoying it. Besides Sarah Shahi makes for some fantastic eye candy. If the show wants to last though, the central mystery, who framed Charlie, needs to be stepped out and doled out less carefully. Creators have got to learn that they have a short window to grab the audience. Instead of worrying about what they will do when the show reaches season 5, they need to worry about making it to episode 5. That means play your cards. Play them furiousily. Don't hold back. If you get picked up, get the ratings, then you can worry about where going to get a new deck. If your concept is solid enough, it should help you come up with a new deck on its own.
South Park - Still outrageious, still entertaining and funny as all get out. Better then any five sitcoms on TV in my opinion.
Pushing Daisies - Good new show. Very creative. It reminds me of Tim Burton in its quirky but not as dark style. Anna Faris looks good. One major plot point of the story is how the hero can't touch the love of his life or she will die again. Considering the danger shouldn't he wear long sleeve shirts and gloves? Or at least have some distance between them? Something as simple as tripping and its all over for her. I don't know why but that just bothers me. Anyway, the show has a lot of potential. A good pilot, but are the rest as good and will the premise hold your attention? That part is undecided for me.
Private Practice - I want to like this show. It means well. One main problem is the male characters are more engaging then the female characters. That's not a good thing. Also its a little to emotional for me. For a room full of doctors they sure do leave the logic circuits on standby alot. One more ep and then I give up on it.
Dirty Sexy Money - Same thing as last week. The whining of the rich and famous just isn't that compelling. Zoe McCellan continues to make me drool. Short hair works on her. Love her look with long more, but the short is working and not many women can pull that off. More of her and I might like the show more.
Criminal Minds - The final exit of Mandy Patinkin. Considering the way he left the show, he got a relatively classy exit. Most would have him die in some unflattering form or fashion but he just exited as he left - unsure and in search of himself. Hats off to the creators for that.
CSI: NY - Same o same o. Don't even remember what it was about. I am guessing someone was murdered and caught. Actually that brings to mind a major complaint (beyond the usual CSI's do everything, why do they have cops and detectives again), is the 100% capture record. Have them fail. Have them not catch the bad guy, not solve the crime. A little more realism, especially for a show set in New York, wouldn't be a bad thing.
Back To You - Funny but formula sitcom. Its entertains me and is quickly forgotten about.
Bionic Women - This show is going to get cancelled. Its a shame but its on its death legs and doesn't even know it. Its not the fault of the concept or the actors. The skeleton is solid. The problem is the writers. I said it before and will say it again. They don't know what to do. They have no idea how to add meat to the bones. The show is suffering from a lack of imagination. Its just do darn formula for a show that should break the formula. The rules need to be tossed out and killing the boyfriend from a shoulder wound isn't a start. Lose the sister, lose the angst. Create a sense of mystery. Create real villains and dangers. Use the powers in unique ways. Don't know how to do that, take a turn from the other shows such as Heroes and Lost - hire a comic book writer. They have the minds to go in weird directions. Use em. It may be to late though. Sadly I think its damage done.
Life - I am sticking to this show. Its quirky and entertaining. I don't see it lasting the season as its strange enough that audiences will not stick with it, but I plan on enjoying it. Besides Sarah Shahi makes for some fantastic eye candy. If the show wants to last though, the central mystery, who framed Charlie, needs to be stepped out and doled out less carefully. Creators have got to learn that they have a short window to grab the audience. Instead of worrying about what they will do when the show reaches season 5, they need to worry about making it to episode 5. That means play your cards. Play them furiousily. Don't hold back. If you get picked up, get the ratings, then you can worry about where going to get a new deck. If your concept is solid enough, it should help you come up with a new deck on its own.
South Park - Still outrageious, still entertaining and funny as all get out. Better then any five sitcoms on TV in my opinion.
Week 2 New Season 10/2
NCIS - Still entertaining. Watch one ep, liked it, probably like rest as all the same. Doing some story arc thing with Denoso (however you spell it) having found and lost love but its not dragging anything down. Where most shows would make it the focus, here its just a subplot.
Beauty and the Geek - I have decided that Rebecca is my new favorite. Because she is the prettiest. That's the only reason. If went for brains I would be SOL after all.
Bones - Same o same o. Just read the first book featuring the character Temperance and it turns out the book character and the show character are nothing alike except in job title. The book Tempe was married, has a child, has social skills and lot longer list then that. It get the impression that someone came up with the autopsy person solves crimes angle. Fox, figuring that might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, attached themselves to Kathy Reichs and simply renamed the lead. This gave them a built in audience from the book and saved them from getting sued. Sounds like a grand conspiracy but really the ONLY similarities between the book and the show is the job title, name, and mystery genre. The rest is all new from the show's creator and writers.
Reaper - I am digging this show. Very entertaining, creative, and humorous. Its got it all going on. Might be my favorite new show of the season. So it will probably get cancelled.
House - Liking Survivor style House. Humorous, little ruthless, have a few characters wouldn't mind he keeps including the two main women, Olivia Wilde and the other one. I don't like the return of the original 3. They where fired, time to move on. Also for Mrs. Morrison, blond hair is not doing her any favors. Last year it was the skeletor look, this year its the dumb blonde look. None makes her look as beautiful as she did that first season.
Boston Legal - I honestly don't know why I watch this show. Its so damn silly. Yet I still do it.
Law & Order: SVU - Same o same o, once again in a good way. I am thinking Second Life didn't like this episode with the implications that predators might use the site to find victims.
Beauty and the Geek - I have decided that Rebecca is my new favorite. Because she is the prettiest. That's the only reason. If went for brains I would be SOL after all.
Bones - Same o same o. Just read the first book featuring the character Temperance and it turns out the book character and the show character are nothing alike except in job title. The book Tempe was married, has a child, has social skills and lot longer list then that. It get the impression that someone came up with the autopsy person solves crimes angle. Fox, figuring that might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, attached themselves to Kathy Reichs and simply renamed the lead. This gave them a built in audience from the book and saved them from getting sued. Sounds like a grand conspiracy but really the ONLY similarities between the book and the show is the job title, name, and mystery genre. The rest is all new from the show's creator and writers.
Reaper - I am digging this show. Very entertaining, creative, and humorous. Its got it all going on. Might be my favorite new show of the season. So it will probably get cancelled.
House - Liking Survivor style House. Humorous, little ruthless, have a few characters wouldn't mind he keeps including the two main women, Olivia Wilde and the other one. I don't like the return of the original 3. They where fired, time to move on. Also for Mrs. Morrison, blond hair is not doing her any favors. Last year it was the skeletor look, this year its the dumb blonde look. None makes her look as beautiful as she did that first season.
Boston Legal - I honestly don't know why I watch this show. Its so damn silly. Yet I still do it.
Law & Order: SVU - Same o same o, once again in a good way. I am thinking Second Life didn't like this episode with the implications that predators might use the site to find victims.
Week 2 New Season 10/2
NCIS - STill entertaining. Watch one ep, liked it, probably like rest as all the same. Doing some storyarc thing with Denoso (however you spell it) having found and lost love but its not dragging anything down. Where most shows would make it the focus, here its just a subplot.
Beauty and the Geek - I have decided that Rebecca is my new favorite. Because she is the prettiest. Thats the only reason. If went for brains I would be SOL afterall.
Bones - Same o same o. Just read the first book featuring the character Temperance and it turns out the book character and the show character are nothing alike except in job title. The book Tempe was married, has a child, has social skills and lot longer list then that. It get the impression that someone came up with the autopsy person solves crimes angle. Fox, figuring that might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, attached themselves to Kathy Reichs and simply renamed the lead. This gave them a built in audience from the book and saved them from getting sued. Sounds like a grand conspiracy but really the ONLY similarities between the book and the show is the job title, name, and mystery genre. The rest is all new from the show's creator and writers.
Reaper - I am digging this show. Very entertaining, creative, and humourous. Its got it all going on. Might be my favorite new show of the season. So it will probably get cancelled.
House - Liking Survivor style House. Humorous, little ruthless, have a few characters wouldn't mind he keeps including the two main women, Olivia Wilde and the other one. I don't like the return of the originial 3. They where fired, time to move on. Also for Mrs. Morrison, blond hair is not doing her any favors. Last year it was the skeletor look, this year its the dumb blonde look. None makes her look as beautiful as she did that first season.
Boston Legal - I honestly don't know why I watch this show. Its so damn silly. Yet I still do it.
Law & Order: SVU - Same o same o, once again in a good way. I am thinking Second Life didn't like this episode with the implications that predators might use the site to find victims.
Beauty and the Geek - I have decided that Rebecca is my new favorite. Because she is the prettiest. Thats the only reason. If went for brains I would be SOL afterall.
Bones - Same o same o. Just read the first book featuring the character Temperance and it turns out the book character and the show character are nothing alike except in job title. The book Tempe was married, has a child, has social skills and lot longer list then that. It get the impression that someone came up with the autopsy person solves crimes angle. Fox, figuring that might be a lawsuit waiting to happen, attached themselves to Kathy Reichs and simply renamed the lead. This gave them a built in audience from the book and saved them from getting sued. Sounds like a grand conspiracy but really the ONLY similarities between the book and the show is the job title, name, and mystery genre. The rest is all new from the show's creator and writers.
Reaper - I am digging this show. Very entertaining, creative, and humourous. Its got it all going on. Might be my favorite new show of the season. So it will probably get cancelled.
House - Liking Survivor style House. Humorous, little ruthless, have a few characters wouldn't mind he keeps including the two main women, Olivia Wilde and the other one. I don't like the return of the originial 3. They where fired, time to move on. Also for Mrs. Morrison, blond hair is not doing her any favors. Last year it was the skeletor look, this year its the dumb blonde look. None makes her look as beautiful as she did that first season.
Boston Legal - I honestly don't know why I watch this show. Its so damn silly. Yet I still do it.
Law & Order: SVU - Same o same o, once again in a good way. I am thinking Second Life didn't like this episode with the implications that predators might use the site to find victims.
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Week 2 New Season 10/1
The second week has started and get to continue the mini reviews and more shows take a bow and other shows prove if they have legs or not. The pilots are not always proof of a show's full potential after all. Sometimes an entire season isn't, even thought I doubt the networks will have patience to wait that long.
How I Met Your Mother - Not much to say. I laughed and I laughed some more. Last week was good. This week was good. Chances are so will the next few weeks. I am however glad that they have ended the other boyfriend subplot for Robin (hmmm Cobie Smulders).
Prison Break - The first season prison break was exciting, new and complicated. The third season prison break is getting pretty darn dull and seems familiar...like the first season. The show is good but I wish it would move along a little faster. Well are the puzzles, the problems etc that would be worth watching.
Chuck - A am digging this show. Its very entertaining and good. Its moving along the Chuck has secrets subplot, getting him use to being a target and having secrets. Based on the preview it looks like the next ep he gets thrown in the deep end. Should be good and funny. Part of the reason though enjoying the show is the delightful eye candy combo of Yvonne Strzechowsky (oh those eyes) and little used Sarah Lancaster (oh that smile). Much crushing going on.
Heroes - This season seems to be going alot slower then last season. More carefully paced, not sure if that's a good thing or not. One subplot already tired of is the twin subplot. Last year the nuclear man knew he was a danger to others and tried to control his powers in seclusion. This year we have an emotional trainwreck that seems to have no problem risking killing those around her. Not attempt at control, no attempt at seclusion, no real concern for others really. Normally we would call that psychotic behavior but here, because her bro loves her and she cries alot, its supposed to be tragic. The character's body count is already greater then Silar's and already irredeemable. Worse this subplot is boring. Kill the twins and move on to something interesting!
Journeyman - I watched the pilot because of Moon Bloodgood. She is a talented knockout in need of a hit. Sadly this probably isn't going to be it. Chances are it will not survive the month. Which is a shame as this show has a great deal of potential, I think it just needs better writers. The present day wife in distress dealing with the time traveling husband is not terribly interesting. Also the consequences of his time traveling interference is minor at best. That worked in the days of Quantum Leap but now it has to have meat. There has to be consequences good and bad. Also there should be no guarantees of success. I guess what I mean is the show lacks stakes. Show the domino effect. Show the changes that are being wrought. Make it count.
CSI: Miami - Its CSI, same as last week. Nothing new to add.
How I Met Your Mother - Not much to say. I laughed and I laughed some more. Last week was good. This week was good. Chances are so will the next few weeks. I am however glad that they have ended the other boyfriend subplot for Robin (hmmm Cobie Smulders).
Prison Break - The first season prison break was exciting, new and complicated. The third season prison break is getting pretty darn dull and seems familiar...like the first season. The show is good but I wish it would move along a little faster. Well are the puzzles, the problems etc that would be worth watching.
Chuck - A am digging this show. Its very entertaining and good. Its moving along the Chuck has secrets subplot, getting him use to being a target and having secrets. Based on the preview it looks like the next ep he gets thrown in the deep end. Should be good and funny. Part of the reason though enjoying the show is the delightful eye candy combo of Yvonne Strzechowsky (oh those eyes) and little used Sarah Lancaster (oh that smile). Much crushing going on.
Heroes - This season seems to be going alot slower then last season. More carefully paced, not sure if that's a good thing or not. One subplot already tired of is the twin subplot. Last year the nuclear man knew he was a danger to others and tried to control his powers in seclusion. This year we have an emotional trainwreck that seems to have no problem risking killing those around her. Not attempt at control, no attempt at seclusion, no real concern for others really. Normally we would call that psychotic behavior but here, because her bro loves her and she cries alot, its supposed to be tragic. The character's body count is already greater then Silar's and already irredeemable. Worse this subplot is boring. Kill the twins and move on to something interesting!
Journeyman - I watched the pilot because of Moon Bloodgood. She is a talented knockout in need of a hit. Sadly this probably isn't going to be it. Chances are it will not survive the month. Which is a shame as this show has a great deal of potential, I think it just needs better writers. The present day wife in distress dealing with the time traveling husband is not terribly interesting. Also the consequences of his time traveling interference is minor at best. That worked in the days of Quantum Leap but now it has to have meat. There has to be consequences good and bad. Also there should be no guarantees of success. I guess what I mean is the show lacks stakes. Show the domino effect. Show the changes that are being wrought. Make it count.
CSI: Miami - Its CSI, same as last week. Nothing new to add.
Monday, October 01, 2007
Videos: Legos and Dice Stacking
Click here for a video of a team putting together the new LEGO Millennium Falcon that is made up of about 5000 pieces. Total time for the group was 2 hours 53 minutes. Makes you wonder how long it takes for one person to do it.
Below is a Lego automatic flusher built from NXT Mindstorms system, for those that want the retail flushing experience.
Click here for a slick time lapse video that shows skillful and very fast dice manipulation. Not sure what use the skill is, but still impressive.
Below is a Lego automatic flusher built from NXT Mindstorms system, for those that want the retail flushing experience.
Click here for a slick time lapse video that shows skillful and very fast dice manipulation. Not sure what use the skill is, but still impressive.
AT&T Contracted Censorship
AT&T has a new terms of service for its subscribers that basically declares that if you speak will of the company they can terminate your service.
"AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes ... tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."
Key words is "believes" and "damages...AT&T". Problem with the world "believes" in legal documentation is its wide open for interpretation and can include anything and everything under the sun including this point.
I am not worried though, between AT&T's war on net neutrality, general bad business practices, price gouging, poor customer service and so on, I have and hope to avoid ever being their customer. I want an iPhone but its not worth dealing with AT&T.
Realistically, I doubt this will be enforced (unless you just generally piss people off at AT&T say with lawsuits) but if its not something they tend to actively enforce why have it at all and why in those terms? Why do they create terms that police what the customers may or may not say about the company? All in all its just bad customer relations, but being a virtual monopoly with congress in the back pocket, I guess it doesn't matter.
"AT&T may immediately terminate or suspend all or a portion of your Service, any Member ID, electronic mail address, IP address, Universal Resource Locator or domain name used by you, without notice, for conduct that AT&T believes ... tends to damage the name or reputation of AT&T, or its parents, affiliates and subsidiaries."
Key words is "believes" and "damages...AT&T". Problem with the world "believes" in legal documentation is its wide open for interpretation and can include anything and everything under the sun including this point.
I am not worried though, between AT&T's war on net neutrality, general bad business practices, price gouging, poor customer service and so on, I have and hope to avoid ever being their customer. I want an iPhone but its not worth dealing with AT&T.
Realistically, I doubt this will be enforced (unless you just generally piss people off at AT&T say with lawsuits) but if its not something they tend to actively enforce why have it at all and why in those terms? Why do they create terms that police what the customers may or may not say about the company? All in all its just bad customer relations, but being a virtual monopoly with congress in the back pocket, I guess it doesn't matter.
New Season 9/30
Whee Sunday with the return of stuff.
Desperate Housewives - Women are hot. Everyone has secrets. So and so forth. Last few seasons redux.
Brothers and Sisters - Hmmm Emily VanCamp. Other people do stuff to. Its a meladrama with a good sense of humor. Like ER, I record it and just watch the storylines interested in and skip the rest.
Cold Case - Its the same crime drama its been for many seasons now. If liked it in the past will now.
Shark - I watch it but sometimes don't know why. Woods is the usual scenary chewer which is actually getting to be a bit one note. One of those that will watch if have time but if I miss it, don't feel like I missed anything.
Gossip Girl - I want to like this show. Watched two eps now. The women are hot. The two main lead characters Dan and Serena (Blake Lively gorgeous sister of the gorgeous Robyn Lively) have good on screen chemsistry. When the show is focused on them its gets more interseting. As soon as it drifts to the supporting cast it gets dull and silly. Probably going to pass on this one.
Simpsons - Same as the previous 18 seasons. I still see it as must see tv.
King of the Hill - If this show was a life action comedy it would have already won more then a few Emmys. Great cartoon.
Family Guy - Over the top as always creating great entertaining television.
American Dad - Eh my interest comes and goes. Sometimes its funny other times its just to silly.
Dexter - The plot gets thicker as the watery grave of Dexter's kills are discovered. That plot alone is enough to fuel an entire season but sure all kinds of other things will be going on. One of the programs look forward to each Sunday.
Desperate Housewives - Women are hot. Everyone has secrets. So and so forth. Last few seasons redux.
Brothers and Sisters - Hmmm Emily VanCamp. Other people do stuff to. Its a meladrama with a good sense of humor. Like ER, I record it and just watch the storylines interested in and skip the rest.
Cold Case - Its the same crime drama its been for many seasons now. If liked it in the past will now.
Shark - I watch it but sometimes don't know why. Woods is the usual scenary chewer which is actually getting to be a bit one note. One of those that will watch if have time but if I miss it, don't feel like I missed anything.
Gossip Girl - I want to like this show. Watched two eps now. The women are hot. The two main lead characters Dan and Serena (Blake Lively gorgeous sister of the gorgeous Robyn Lively) have good on screen chemsistry. When the show is focused on them its gets more interseting. As soon as it drifts to the supporting cast it gets dull and silly. Probably going to pass on this one.
Simpsons - Same as the previous 18 seasons. I still see it as must see tv.
King of the Hill - If this show was a life action comedy it would have already won more then a few Emmys. Great cartoon.
Family Guy - Over the top as always creating great entertaining television.
American Dad - Eh my interest comes and goes. Sometimes its funny other times its just to silly.
Dexter - The plot gets thicker as the watery grave of Dexter's kills are discovered. That plot alone is enough to fuel an entire season but sure all kinds of other things will be going on. One of the programs look forward to each Sunday.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
New Season 9/28
First Friday of the new season and not as much new stuff as the previous days.
Moonlight - Vampire investigator, shades of Angel. But not as good or compelling. Its pretty average vampire stuff, but nothing like this on television currently so points there. Will give it a few more eps to grab my attention more.
Numbers - Same as the previous seasons. The wonders of math (and most probably exaggerated and not true). I liked it last season so probably will this season.
Las Vegas - James Caan (darn) and anarexic plastic surgery loving Nikki Cox are gone. Replaced by Tom Selleck. Who plays a cowboy. Literally. In both look and approach. To soon to tell if it too stupid to get past or just stupid enough to entertain. Ultimately Las Vegas remains popcorn movie of television. Its not there to study the human condition or teach. It just wants to entertain and most of the time it does just that.
Stargate: Atlantis - Sigh I miss Stargate. It did its job well - be entertaining. Atlantis does to, just not as well as the orginial. Still they do what no other show does on television (now) and have great cliffhangers and over the top story telling. Some compare it to Star Trek and Star Wars which isn't a fair comparison. Its not meant to be them. It just wants to tell a lot of stories in its own universe in an enteraining way which I have enjoyed immensely for 10 years and plan to continue to do so.
Moonlight - Vampire investigator, shades of Angel. But not as good or compelling. Its pretty average vampire stuff, but nothing like this on television currently so points there. Will give it a few more eps to grab my attention more.
Numbers - Same as the previous seasons. The wonders of math (and most probably exaggerated and not true). I liked it last season so probably will this season.
Las Vegas - James Caan (darn) and anarexic plastic surgery loving Nikki Cox are gone. Replaced by Tom Selleck. Who plays a cowboy. Literally. In both look and approach. To soon to tell if it too stupid to get past or just stupid enough to entertain. Ultimately Las Vegas remains popcorn movie of television. Its not there to study the human condition or teach. It just wants to entertain and most of the time it does just that.
Stargate: Atlantis - Sigh I miss Stargate. It did its job well - be entertaining. Atlantis does to, just not as well as the orginial. Still they do what no other show does on television (now) and have great cliffhangers and over the top story telling. Some compare it to Star Trek and Star Wars which isn't a fair comparison. Its not meant to be them. It just wants to tell a lot of stories in its own universe in an enteraining way which I have enjoyed immensely for 10 years and plan to continue to do so.
Friday, September 28, 2007
New Season 9/27
Ah the crowded Thursday. So many channels so little VCRs.
My Name Is Earl - Continues to be funny. The delicious Jamie Pressley continues to chew scenery.
The Office - I am entertained by the show but I notice I don't actually laugh that much. Its one of those that if I missed it, I wouldn't particularly care.
ER - Its ER. The formula hasn't changed a bit with just enough interesting characters to overcome the crappy ones. With the help of the trusty remote can usually speed through an hour ep in about half hour by skipping the uninteresting story arcs of the ep.
Smallville - Drool, the lovely and gorgeous Allison Mack. Her character continues to be the emotional center of the show and she continues to show why with acting skills that far far outpaces the others. I was entertained by the ending teaser with Supergirl flying...well they might want to spend a little more on those flying effects.
CSI - The original remains the best. Sara remains alive (darn) but the episode was intense and well paced. Remains on the must see list.
Without a Trace - More episodes I watch the less interested I keep becoming. Even the introduction of James Marsters may not be enough to keep me watching through the season.
Ugly Betty - More of the same of first season and thats not a good thing. Lot of storyline recyling and I am simply getting bored with it.
Grey's Anatomy - Me thinks the launching of Private Practice is running the writing staff and others ragged as its clearly suffering. Hopefully it will find its legs but I don't know if I have the patience to wait. The long series of will he or she that goes on and on and on is getting really really boring.
Big Shots - I like the cast. The funny comes and goes but don't know if will stick with. I will give it a few more eps to make sure.
My Name Is Earl - Continues to be funny. The delicious Jamie Pressley continues to chew scenery.
The Office - I am entertained by the show but I notice I don't actually laugh that much. Its one of those that if I missed it, I wouldn't particularly care.
ER - Its ER. The formula hasn't changed a bit with just enough interesting characters to overcome the crappy ones. With the help of the trusty remote can usually speed through an hour ep in about half hour by skipping the uninteresting story arcs of the ep.
Smallville - Drool, the lovely and gorgeous Allison Mack. Her character continues to be the emotional center of the show and she continues to show why with acting skills that far far outpaces the others. I was entertained by the ending teaser with Supergirl flying...well they might want to spend a little more on those flying effects.
CSI - The original remains the best. Sara remains alive (darn) but the episode was intense and well paced. Remains on the must see list.
Without a Trace - More episodes I watch the less interested I keep becoming. Even the introduction of James Marsters may not be enough to keep me watching through the season.
Ugly Betty - More of the same of first season and thats not a good thing. Lot of storyline recyling and I am simply getting bored with it.
Grey's Anatomy - Me thinks the launching of Private Practice is running the writing staff and others ragged as its clearly suffering. Hopefully it will find its legs but I don't know if I have the patience to wait. The long series of will he or she that goes on and on and on is getting really really boring.
Big Shots - I like the cast. The funny comes and goes but don't know if will stick with. I will give it a few more eps to make sure.
New Season 9/26
Oops thought I had done this already and discovered I hadn't. So on to pocket reviews of Wednesday programs.
Private Practice - DOA unless it improves and quickly. It frankly bored me. The addison character is lovely, but the emsemble as a whole doesn't hold my attention. Considering the calibur of the cast, I am thinking its the writing thats dropping the ball.
Dirty Sexy Money - Hmmm Zoe McCellan. Fan of hers for quite a while. Lovely women. Not enough to get me to keep watching this show. Its has a lot of potential but the whining of the rich and famous just doesn't grab my interest.
Criminial Minds - Fabulous as always and good job of making use of Mandy in the one episode he will be in before his famous walkout. I hope more shows learn from this and remember that the talent can be and should be replaced when their ego gets in the way of getting the job done. Any case, another outstanding if depressing ep and a show that remains on my must see list.
CSI:NY - Still the red-headed stepchild of the CSI franchise. Despite my best efforts I just can't get that into this show. I think I watch more out of habit then real interest. I notice I zone out more and more while watching this show and just don't seem to care.
Back To You - Its got Fraiser playing Frasier as a newscaster. I laughed and was entertained so mission accomplished. Probably already clearing shelf space for Emmy's even though its no where near that good.
Bionic Women - Lots of potential. Katie Sackhoff pretty much steals every scene she is in. Also she somehow became sexy. Not sure when that happened. Very odd. The show could be good, very good but something is holding it back but can't put my finger on it. Lack of imagniation might be part of the problem...or budget. Saddling Jamie with a sister she has to raise wasn't a good move either. They want to humanize the character and rather doing it the hard way - through the story, they decided to go lazy by giving her the abusive father abandons sister she must raise backstory. The problem is the usual problem with giving characters kids in dramas...you have to keep dealing with them. To ignore their existence is to make the person a crappy parent which is not a good characteristic for the hero. Even the pilot ep showed how they had no idea what to do with the kid now that they where saddled with her. Big problem. Jettison the sister as soon as possible and focus on the rest of the adult emsemble. Dang that was long but the sister bit really really dragged the pilot episode down and is very very lazy writing which doesn't bode well for the future of this series.
Life - This is a strange show with a strange character. Sarah Shahi and Brooke Langston where yummy throughout but I can't determine if I like it or not. I am going to give it a few more eps before making up my mind.
Gossip Girl - Didn't watch this week but did last week. Was bored throughout. Once again the whining of the rich and famous just doesn't interest me.
Private Practice - DOA unless it improves and quickly. It frankly bored me. The addison character is lovely, but the emsemble as a whole doesn't hold my attention. Considering the calibur of the cast, I am thinking its the writing thats dropping the ball.
Dirty Sexy Money - Hmmm Zoe McCellan. Fan of hers for quite a while. Lovely women. Not enough to get me to keep watching this show. Its has a lot of potential but the whining of the rich and famous just doesn't grab my interest.
Criminial Minds - Fabulous as always and good job of making use of Mandy in the one episode he will be in before his famous walkout. I hope more shows learn from this and remember that the talent can be and should be replaced when their ego gets in the way of getting the job done. Any case, another outstanding if depressing ep and a show that remains on my must see list.
CSI:NY - Still the red-headed stepchild of the CSI franchise. Despite my best efforts I just can't get that into this show. I think I watch more out of habit then real interest. I notice I zone out more and more while watching this show and just don't seem to care.
Back To You - Its got Fraiser playing Frasier as a newscaster. I laughed and was entertained so mission accomplished. Probably already clearing shelf space for Emmy's even though its no where near that good.
Bionic Women - Lots of potential. Katie Sackhoff pretty much steals every scene she is in. Also she somehow became sexy. Not sure when that happened. Very odd. The show could be good, very good but something is holding it back but can't put my finger on it. Lack of imagniation might be part of the problem...or budget. Saddling Jamie with a sister she has to raise wasn't a good move either. They want to humanize the character and rather doing it the hard way - through the story, they decided to go lazy by giving her the abusive father abandons sister she must raise backstory. The problem is the usual problem with giving characters kids in dramas...you have to keep dealing with them. To ignore their existence is to make the person a crappy parent which is not a good characteristic for the hero. Even the pilot ep showed how they had no idea what to do with the kid now that they where saddled with her. Big problem. Jettison the sister as soon as possible and focus on the rest of the adult emsemble. Dang that was long but the sister bit really really dragged the pilot episode down and is very very lazy writing which doesn't bode well for the future of this series.
Life - This is a strange show with a strange character. Sarah Shahi and Brooke Langston where yummy throughout but I can't determine if I like it or not. I am going to give it a few more eps before making up my mind.
Gossip Girl - Didn't watch this week but did last week. Was bored throughout. Once again the whining of the rich and famous just doesn't interest me.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
New Season 9-25
More TV, more comments to share on the stuff I decided to watch.
House - Hey its House. Same as the last seasons. He is still a dick. He still gets it "right" yet somehow wrong. In the real world he would have been tossed out long ago and broke from lawsuits. But in TV land he continues to amuse and I personally am looking forward to his interviews "survivor" style that will be running theme of the next few eps.
Law and Order: SVU - Same as last season. Continues to entertain while being a bit disturbing. One of the best dramas on TV.
Boston Legal - Hmm I like and don't like the show. The casting director continues to have an eye for beauty. The writing (and acting) continues to be over the top. Shatner continues to chew the scenery while really having very little to do. Basically at this point its 50% boring, 50% entertaining, but the entertaining part is usually so well done its worth the boring.
Beauty and the Geek - I am a geek so it speaks to me. Sadly the "Aspiring" Playmate Amanda was kicked, probably resulting in an excellent rebound that would make a basketball proud if she landed chest first when kicked out. The sentiment and humanity of the show's first season remains on vacation and unlikely to return.
Reaper - The pilot ep was directed by Kevin Smith. How do you know this? Because the credits tell you. Otherwise its presentation was no different then any other show. As for the show itself, its like Supernatural with a better sense of humor. Overall entertaining and worth checking it.
House - Hey its House. Same as the last seasons. He is still a dick. He still gets it "right" yet somehow wrong. In the real world he would have been tossed out long ago and broke from lawsuits. But in TV land he continues to amuse and I personally am looking forward to his interviews "survivor" style that will be running theme of the next few eps.
Law and Order: SVU - Same as last season. Continues to entertain while being a bit disturbing. One of the best dramas on TV.
Boston Legal - Hmm I like and don't like the show. The casting director continues to have an eye for beauty. The writing (and acting) continues to be over the top. Shatner continues to chew the scenery while really having very little to do. Basically at this point its 50% boring, 50% entertaining, but the entertaining part is usually so well done its worth the boring.
Beauty and the Geek - I am a geek so it speaks to me. Sadly the "Aspiring" Playmate Amanda was kicked, probably resulting in an excellent rebound that would make a basketball proud if she landed chest first when kicked out. The sentiment and humanity of the show's first season remains on vacation and unlikely to return.
Reaper - The pilot ep was directed by Kevin Smith. How do you know this? Because the credits tell you. Otherwise its presentation was no different then any other show. As for the show itself, its like Supernatural with a better sense of humor. Overall entertaining and worth checking it.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
New Season 9-24
The new season has started across the board for the big 4. Yesterday Fox started things with their cartoon lineup. Simpsons missed a step on the ep and wasted Colbert. King of the Hill was good if slightly over the top. Family Guy was completely over the top and hilarious as always.
So now to Monday. Lots of new stuff and lots of returning favorites. Being lazy, not going to do paragraphs of reviews, more just blurbs of what I thought of the stuff I watched or recorded.
How I Met Your Mother - Hilarious as always. I miss Alyson Hannigan's red hair. She is still hot, but considering how rare natural redheads are, just don't get this tendency to die it away.
CSI: Miami - New season, same stories. Its entertaining enough but it appears the Horatio with son storyline is going to be as tedious as all his family related storylines from seasons past.
Prison Break - Second ep. Still not sure if my attention is grabbed. Everything is a little to easy this season. "Whistler" has been hiding for years in a hole and suddenly everyone knows where he is. The water pipes have been broken for a year and boom, our hero knows exactly where and what to do to fix the problem. I don't know, its tiresome. Hopefully the prison break will not take all season long. Don't think can wait that long.
Chuck - The pilot ep was very entertaining. Overall its a show I will continue to watch and it doesn't hurt to have the beautiful eye candy in the form of Sarah Lancaster (currently wasted) and Yvonne Strzechowski. Worth checking out if you haven't already.
Heroes - Woot season 2 begins. New mysteries to discover including the murder of George Takai (darnit). If you liked the first season, there is not reason not to watch the second.
Journeyman - Good first ep. The time traveling motif can be very entertaining if handled well. So far so good. The only problem is while the dude is in the past, time still moves forward in the present. The result is having to explain sudden and sometimes long disappearances to his family and friends. This is fine as a short term character device, but 22 eps of explaining those disappearances is going to get very old very quick. Hopefully a permanent solution will present itself by mid-season.
So now to Monday. Lots of new stuff and lots of returning favorites. Being lazy, not going to do paragraphs of reviews, more just blurbs of what I thought of the stuff I watched or recorded.
How I Met Your Mother - Hilarious as always. I miss Alyson Hannigan's red hair. She is still hot, but considering how rare natural redheads are, just don't get this tendency to die it away.
CSI: Miami - New season, same stories. Its entertaining enough but it appears the Horatio with son storyline is going to be as tedious as all his family related storylines from seasons past.
Prison Break - Second ep. Still not sure if my attention is grabbed. Everything is a little to easy this season. "Whistler" has been hiding for years in a hole and suddenly everyone knows where he is. The water pipes have been broken for a year and boom, our hero knows exactly where and what to do to fix the problem. I don't know, its tiresome. Hopefully the prison break will not take all season long. Don't think can wait that long.
Chuck - The pilot ep was very entertaining. Overall its a show I will continue to watch and it doesn't hurt to have the beautiful eye candy in the form of Sarah Lancaster (currently wasted) and Yvonne Strzechowski. Worth checking out if you haven't already.
Heroes - Woot season 2 begins. New mysteries to discover including the murder of George Takai (darnit). If you liked the first season, there is not reason not to watch the second.
Journeyman - Good first ep. The time traveling motif can be very entertaining if handled well. So far so good. The only problem is while the dude is in the past, time still moves forward in the present. The result is having to explain sudden and sometimes long disappearances to his family and friends. This is fine as a short term character device, but 22 eps of explaining those disappearances is going to get very old very quick. Hopefully a permanent solution will present itself by mid-season.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Google Sued For Secret SSN Code
In a sign of the stupidity of many in our times, Dylan Jayne is suing Google for 5 billion because of their name. Or as he puts it "I, Dylan Stephan Jayne, plaintiff, has a social security number that when the social security number is turned upside down in its entirety it is a scrambled code that does spell the name Google." Oh yeah, and all five pages of the lawsuit is handwritten in the format that most lawsuits of this nature follow.Ironically, considering how much traction even obvious frivolous lawsuits get in the US, Jacob has a 50/50 chance of actually winning this.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Special Comment: Bush's Hypocrisy
Keith Olbermann had another special comment yesterday on Countdown (transcript here). This time he tears into for his comments regarding the "Betray Us" ad from moveon.org. Olbermann does an excellent job of point out Bush's hypocrasy using recent history with Swift boating Kerry, Max Cleland "cowardice", the overall fear focused campaigning and how apparently for Bush's goals, there is not such thing as a low blow. Olbermann also uses American history to highlight that until Bush, Presidents tried to keep a clear line between the military and civilian branches. Basically the rules is leave the politics to the politicians and the generals to protecting the country. Instead, thanks to Bush, a general has been used to promote a political agenda. The "pimping" of General Petraeus. Bush is the worst president in the history of this country and he continues to prove why this is the case.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Kathy "the Anti-Christ" Griffin Larry King Interview
Kathy Griffin is enjoying a little bit of the controvery spotlight do to her comments of not thanking Jesus for her Emmy win, saying "he had nothing to do with it." Christian groups, mostly wanting more donations, pounced all over it. Apparently, it IS actually a rule you are supposed to thank Jesus for helping you win stuff. As Kathy points out, you would think Jesus would have better things to do then help celebrities and athletes win awards. According the the Christian groups, I guess that is not the case.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Countdown 9/11 To Iraq Summary of Failure
Keith Olbermann on Countdown yesterday put together a solid list of the lies and failures of the bush administration in using 9/11 to bring about the Iraqi War. Its just highlights what a complete and utter failure the Bush administration has been from day 1 where failure gets you promoted and awards.
A video can be found here.
A video can be found here.
Jon Stewart Hosting 2008 Oscars
According to the New York Times, Jon Stewart has been tapped to once again host the 2008 Oscars. He previousily hosted in 2006.
Great news as I thought his hosting performance last time was great and hoping he brings more Daily Show humor to it this time. He had a touch last time but I say more the merrier. The Oscars are too darn stuffy as it is.
(source)
Great news as I thought his hosting performance last time was great and hoping he brings more Daily Show humor to it this time. He had a touch last time but I say more the merrier. The Oscars are too darn stuffy as it is.
(source)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
9/11 - Six Years Later
Its now been six years to the day. A lot of things have happened. Some good, but sadly most bad. The years in between have not been good for this country as the leadership has failed in every way possible. As always time moves on. Below is the post 9/11 commentary from Jon Stewart that really summarizes everything. Its continues to be a solid message of hope and one worth repeating.
Insurance Tactics to Cheat Victims
Bloomberg.com has posted an article that covers the tactics the various insurance carriers use to avoid making payments or full payments. The worse offenders seem to be State Farm and especially Allstate who hired consultants to develop new methods to avoid payments that have become industries standard practices. Suffice it to say, read the article so know how they are trying to screw you and consider switching insurance carriers if your with State Farm and Allstate.
Click here to read the full article.
Click here to read the full article.
Wednesday, September 05, 2007
New iPod Lineup from Apple
Today Steve Jobs hosted a keynote that introduced an entire updated line of iPods and modified iTunes store. The highlights include a new colors for the iPod Shuffle, a new designed nano with screen, the iPod Video (now Classic), and the iPod Touch. In addition iTunes has got an update with allowing the creating of ring tones (for 99 cents) and wi-fi music store. The details are below.
iPod Shuffle
- same design, same price ($79), additional new colors of dark red, purple, light blue, light green and red (for AIDS charity program for various electronic products).
- In stores this weekend
iPod Nano
- 2 models 4GB ($149) and 8GB ($199)
- basically a tiny iPod Video
- now has video capability and new user interface with Cover Flow and 3 games built in
- 2 inch QVGA 320x240 screen that is 65% brighter then previous models with 204 pizels per inch
- comes in dark red, purple, light blue and light green colors
- battery life: 24 hours audio or 5 hours video
- Available in stores this weekend
- Hands-on and pics: here and here and here
iPod Classic
- now 80GB ($249) and 160GB ($349) in size
- new GUI interface, but overall same as iPod Video its replacing
- all polished steel body except for clickwheel
- Cover Flow built in (but not as smooth as on iPhone)
- battery life: 40 hours audio or 7 hours video
- In stores by the weekend
- Hands-on and pics: here and here and here
iPod Touch
- basically the iPhone without phone capabilities
- touchscreen Cover Flow, Wi-Fi, Safari web browswer, iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store and YouTube but no email application
- Flash drives so 8GB model ($299) and 16GB model ($399)
- 3.5 inch widescreen display with light sensor to autodim the screen
- 8mm thin
- battery life: 22 hours audio or 5 hours video, no info on wi-fi does to battery though
- Ships worldwide by end of the month
- Walkthrough video here
- Hands-on and pics: video, and here and here and here
iTunes
- Now ability to create customized ring tones from 12 to 21 seconds in length using a graphic editor
- Ring tones made from existing library but costs an additional 99 cents.
- Ring tones for iPhone only.
- iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store available to download purchased songs directly from a wi-fi connection and later sync to new purchases back to desktop on iPod Touch and iPhone
- No mention on if/how podcasts and the like would work.
- Deal with Starbucks to sample and later purchase songs playing at Starbucks stores nationwide. Will take a year or so to roll out in the stores though.
- Hands-on and pics: here and here
iPhone
- $200 price drop for 8GB model (now $399), 4GB discontinued (remaining discounted to $299)
- update in less then month will introduce iTunes Wi-Fi store (I assume will come out at same time as iPod Touch)
Overall, if you in the market for an iPod, its a tough choice to make. Want video, just a player, like the bells and whistles of a touch screen? Five models, but lots of choices depending on your needs. Personally, I want the iPod Touch but the price is making me pause and wait it out. Not enough memory to make it worthwhile. Besides I want to see what the hack community does to that puppy.
Olbermann Special comment: No Credibility
Keith Olbermann tears into the Bush for playing with the lives and future of this country for his cavalier attitude about Iraq. Bush has said in a new book approved by him "I am playing for October-November...To get us in a position where the presidential candidates, will be comfortable about sustaining a presence." This statement makes it clear that Bush's goal is to sustain the war for indefinite period of time, no end in sight and no definition of what that end is. Basically Haliburton wants its fiscal year and be damned with the lives it costs. Or as Keith puts it "your holding our troops hostage." Most people call behavior like this evil. Because couched in terms of unproven terrorism fears though, we call it leadership. Pathetic.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Tony Snow Resigns
Tony Snow has announced he will resign as White House Press Secretary as he undergoes treatment for cancer. His final day will be September 14th. Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino will take over the role.
I have a feeling Tony Snow is probably relieved to be done with the job as he was not particularity very good at it. Dana Perino, a very attractive and intelligent women, has proven to be much better at the role. As a whole, I do believe I will be watching the press stuff more often as I have developed a crush on Perino.
I have a feeling Tony Snow is probably relieved to be done with the job as he was not particularity very good at it. Dana Perino, a very attractive and intelligent women, has proven to be much better at the role. As a whole, I do believe I will be watching the press stuff more often as I have developed a crush on Perino.
Monday, August 27, 2007
Alberto Gonzales Resigns
Alberto Gonzales announced today that he is resigning as Attorney General effective September 17. Bush says his name was dragged in the mud for political reasons and I say that Bush did most of the dragging. Why did he resign now instead of earlier? Who knows and frankly don't care.
There is really only one person to blame and that's Gonzalez. He dragged his own name in the mud. Neither the people nor the politicians had to do it for him. His duty was to the United States of America. To the law. His duty was to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Instead he decided his duty was to uphold the will of the President of the United States. That was not his role, it was never supposed to be his role and the fact that he didn't know that is inexcusable. He is simply incompetent, par the course for an administration that hasn't gotten anything right in 6 years and counting. Good riddance to bad rubbish. May he exit the public stage forever.
There is really only one person to blame and that's Gonzalez. He dragged his own name in the mud. Neither the people nor the politicians had to do it for him. His duty was to the United States of America. To the law. His duty was to uphold the Constitution of the United States. Instead he decided his duty was to uphold the will of the President of the United States. That was not his role, it was never supposed to be his role and the fact that he didn't know that is inexcusable. He is simply incompetent, par the course for an administration that hasn't gotten anything right in 6 years and counting. Good riddance to bad rubbish. May he exit the public stage forever.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Daily Show: "America to the Rescue"
The Daily Show put together a fantastic bit that provides an excellent overview of Republican Presidents continued and total failed Middle East policies that repeatedly bite Americans in the ass later. All complete with decade specific graphics. Its a searing and brilliant segment.
Click here to watch the video.
Click here to watch the video.
Monday, August 20, 2007
Daily Show in Iraq
The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had decided to send one of their correspondents to Iraq for real rather then the usual blue-screen work. Starting this week, the show will air pre-recorded bits with Rob Riggle in Iraq. How much is serious and how much is humor is unknown but sure it will be biting commentary on the "surge" and the upcoming state of Iraq from General...oh yeah, its really the White House writing it and he just signs it and does the yes-man thing.
Full article here
Full article here
Monday, August 06, 2007
TechTV Reborn Online
If you a fan of TechTV before it was run into the ground by the buyout from G4, be glad to now its basically reborn online via the use of pod casting, webcasting, and IP TV.
If you loved the Screensavers with Patrick Norton, Sarah Lane (or Moran), Kevin Rose, Martin Sargent and may others, then be sure to check out the many offering from Revision3. I personally recommend Diggnation, InDigital, and Systm.
If you a fan of Leo Laporte, go to TWIT.tv. The TWIT stands for this week in tech and its a network of podcasts, many many podcasts that covers pretty much any tech related topic under the sun you can think of. Many TechTV folks, such as John C. Dvorak (who also does Cranky Geeks) and others. On that network I recommed the podcasts "This Week In Tech" and net@nite. Leo's cohost on net@nite is the talented and lovely Amber "i have a crush on her" MacArthur and she also creates and hosts commandN, another recommendation.
Finally TechTV and now G4 X-Play host and babe extraordinaire (lovely but no Amber) Morgan Webb has started her own tech related webcast called Webb Alert. Its a five minute or so webcast that covers daily tech events. Its just started last week and out of the gate its comes across as a slick professional program that should lead to many things for her.
Ff you loved TechTV, you will love all that programming and many more. I just wish I had worked for TechTV now so could join in something that appears like is a lot of fun to do. I don't have the looks but do have ideas to expand what some of them are doing including Webb Alert. Ah to have connections and now people.
And nope this isn't an advertisement. Don't have enough readers for that (darn it). Just a strong recommendation for some great content.
If you loved the Screensavers with Patrick Norton, Sarah Lane (or Moran), Kevin Rose, Martin Sargent and may others, then be sure to check out the many offering from Revision3. I personally recommend Diggnation, InDigital, and Systm.
If you a fan of Leo Laporte, go to TWIT.tv. The TWIT stands for this week in tech and its a network of podcasts, many many podcasts that covers pretty much any tech related topic under the sun you can think of. Many TechTV folks, such as John C. Dvorak (who also does Cranky Geeks) and others. On that network I recommed the podcasts "This Week In Tech" and net@nite. Leo's cohost on net@nite is the talented and lovely Amber "i have a crush on her" MacArthur and she also creates and hosts commandN, another recommendation.
Finally TechTV and now G4 X-Play host and babe extraordinaire (lovely but no Amber) Morgan Webb has started her own tech related webcast called Webb Alert. Its a five minute or so webcast that covers daily tech events. Its just started last week and out of the gate its comes across as a slick professional program that should lead to many things for her.
Ff you loved TechTV, you will love all that programming and many more. I just wish I had worked for TechTV now so could join in something that appears like is a lot of fun to do. I don't have the looks but do have ideas to expand what some of them are doing including Webb Alert. Ah to have connections and now people.
And nope this isn't an advertisement. Don't have enough readers for that (darn it). Just a strong recommendation for some great content.
Friday, August 03, 2007
Full Sized Lego Desk
Eric Harshbarger was paid to build a Lego desk, and a mighty desk was indeed built. I wouldn't mind knowing the cost. I just wished he had more pictures to show all the phases of the project.
Lego Desk Facts from Eric Harshbarger:
- Approximately 35,000 LEGO bricks were used. This includes almost all the pieces from 32 Blue Tubs (#3033), almost 300 (!) small baseplates (8x16 studs), and 63 blue plate packs from LEGO Shop-at-Home. A few other pieces were also bought from private collectors (226 tiles so the drawers could slide, et cetera).
- The desk weighs about 120 pounds, I think. I have not actually weighed it... but I think that is close.
- About 7 pounds of glue were used. Brand: Oatey, All-Purpose (PVC, CPVC, ABS) Glue.
- The desk has the following dimensions (inches, WxHxD): 60" x 29.5" x 30".
- It has 7 working drawers (six small, one large).
- It has a folding lid in the top that conceals a hole for computer cables to drop through.
- Yes, the top is bumpy -- studs up. I offered to make the top smooth, but the client specifically requested otherwise. Whatever. I also offered to build a retractable keyboard tray in the front, but that was not wanted. Nor a mosaic of the company logo on the top or sides.
- Yes, I was paid to build the desk. Don't ask how much. It was worth my time.
(source)
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