Thursday, September 30, 2004
Creepiest Commercial Evar
You don't even have to watch it to be frightened. A man wakes up in bed with a mute Burger King who hands him a Double Croissan'wich. Scary.
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You don't even have to watch it to be frightened. A man wakes up in bed with a mute Burger King who hands him a Double Croissan'wich. Scary.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2004
Is this bad?
I got a certified letter in the mail from a Lien and Collection agency. It seems I haven't paid my homeowner fees in a few months. Yeah, I could see that happening. Why did I bother turning the power back on if they're just gonna throw me out?
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I got a certified letter in the mail from a Lien and Collection agency. It seems I haven't paid my homeowner fees in a few months. Yeah, I could see that happening. Why did I bother turning the power back on if they're just gonna throw me out?
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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Is this bad?
I came home today and found this stuck on my door:
It seems I haven't paid my electric bill in a few months. Yeah, I could see that happening. I have no lights. No stove. No TiVo. The only electricity in my home is whatever charge is left in my laptop.
Tomorrow I will go to the power company and pay the bill, and hopefully they can send someone out to turn the power back on. The last time this happened they said it could take up to 72 hours, but they had it back up within 10 hours. That's right, this isn't the first time this has happened to me.
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I came home today and found this stuck on my door:
It seems I haven't paid my electric bill in a few months. Yeah, I could see that happening. I have no lights. No stove. No TiVo. The only electricity in my home is whatever charge is left in my laptop.
Tomorrow I will go to the power company and pay the bill, and hopefully they can send someone out to turn the power back on. The last time this happened they said it could take up to 72 hours, but they had it back up within 10 hours. That's right, this isn't the first time this has happened to me.
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I am a terrible, awful friend.
On Monday I overheard some people at work debating the changes in the new Star Wars DVDs being released that night. Thinking I could impress them, I told them about my plans to go to Westwood to pick up a copy when they officially went on sale at midnight. They replied "you're going to Nerdfest?!"
I realized I had to recover quickly. I told them "Oh, it's not for ME... You see, TRAVIS is one of those Star Wars freaks. HE'S the one who wants to go, and I just said I would tag along. You know, just for fun. 'Cuz he had no one else to go with. So I'm just helping him." I sold him out faster than Divine Brown on Valentine's Day. Sorry Travis.
Travis should have photos and a write-up here.
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On Monday I overheard some people at work debating the changes in the new Star Wars DVDs being released that night. Thinking I could impress them, I told them about my plans to go to Westwood to pick up a copy when they officially went on sale at midnight. They replied "you're going to Nerdfest?!"
I realized I had to recover quickly. I told them "Oh, it's not for ME... You see, TRAVIS is one of those Star Wars freaks. HE'S the one who wants to go, and I just said I would tag along. You know, just for fun. 'Cuz he had no one else to go with. So I'm just helping him." I sold him out faster than Divine Brown on Valentine's Day. Sorry Travis.
Travis should have photos and a write-up here.
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Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Word of the Day
If you have a lot of stories to tell but don't update your website regularly, you will become BLOGJAMMED. It's a new word, I made it up. Spread it around.
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If you have a lot of stories to tell but don't update your website regularly, you will become BLOGJAMMED. It's a new word, I made it up. Spread it around.
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Monday, September 20, 2004
Flemmys
The Emmys were tonight. It was a pretty bad show. The theme seemed to be "Reality Television" kicking off with a flat spoof of... well, I'm not sure what. They had pre-taped segment interviewing nominees and non-nominees, and I think they were trying to make it look like the Emmys were some sort of Reality show and the nominees were being voted off- it was just so poorly done I couldn't figure out what the point was. A dumb running gag for the evening was a new show called "What's Behind Garry's Door", a show that would be made up of host Garry Shandling's home security cameras. The "golly, Reality TV is everywhere" bit is at least 2 years out of date.
Speaking of out of date, I think it's time Shandling retired. He's just not funny anymore. He made a joke that he was going to have kids when he was 90, taking the "Tony Randall route." That's particularly not funny considering that Randall died this past year. And speaking of death, noticibly absent from the "In Memorium" segment was John Ritter. Because he was part of the ABC family for so long I suspect they had a special clip presentation just for him, but the show was running late so they just scrapped it. Stupid. (EDIT: Thanks to Lisa, who points out that Ritter died right before last year's Emmy's, and would have been honored then. He received a nomination this year, which is what confused me.)
Why do the Emmy's run long? Because they waste so much time on the dumb categories of "Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program" and about 2 dozen mini-series awards. I'm OK if they want to hand out those awards, but why not lump them together and get them out of the way quickly so there is enough time to focus on the regular series which far more people are familiar with. Instead they have to race through some of the big awards like "Best Comedy"- we didn't even get to see any clips.
Random notes:
I only made it through the first hour or so of "Angels in America" before I wanted to cut out my own intestines, so I wasn't happy with the good showing it made at the Emmys. I am particularly disgusted that West Wing Wench Mary-Louise Parker won an award for Angels. Hate her.
Sex and the City had a rather disappointing showing considering how many nominations they had. Good. Hate them.
Best line of the night: In an otherwise dumb comedy bit in the men's room, Chris Rock, standing at a urinal, yells "Hey, who the hell is Elaine Stitch?!" My sentiment exactly. (She's the old creepy lady who won "Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program". She does get points for being bleeped for saying the F word.)
Arrested Development took home Best Comedy along with several other awards. Excellent. More people need to be watching this show.
Seeing Simon Cowell and Donald Trump on stage together is fantastic. Hearing them read the scripted banter is, as Simon would say, dreadful. You're Fired.
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The Emmys were tonight. It was a pretty bad show. The theme seemed to be "Reality Television" kicking off with a flat spoof of... well, I'm not sure what. They had pre-taped segment interviewing nominees and non-nominees, and I think they were trying to make it look like the Emmys were some sort of Reality show and the nominees were being voted off- it was just so poorly done I couldn't figure out what the point was. A dumb running gag for the evening was a new show called "What's Behind Garry's Door", a show that would be made up of host Garry Shandling's home security cameras. The "golly, Reality TV is everywhere" bit is at least 2 years out of date.
Speaking of out of date, I think it's time Shandling retired. He's just not funny anymore. He made a joke that he was going to have kids when he was 90, taking the "Tony Randall route." That's particularly not funny considering that Randall died this past year. And speaking of death, noticibly absent from the "In Memorium" segment was John Ritter. Because he was part of the ABC family for so long I suspect they had a special clip presentation just for him, but the show was running late so they just scrapped it. Stupid. (EDIT: Thanks to Lisa, who points out that Ritter died right before last year's Emmy's, and would have been honored then. He received a nomination this year, which is what confused me.)
Why do the Emmy's run long? Because they waste so much time on the dumb categories of "Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program" and about 2 dozen mini-series awards. I'm OK if they want to hand out those awards, but why not lump them together and get them out of the way quickly so there is enough time to focus on the regular series which far more people are familiar with. Instead they have to race through some of the big awards like "Best Comedy"- we didn't even get to see any clips.
Random notes:
I only made it through the first hour or so of "Angels in America" before I wanted to cut out my own intestines, so I wasn't happy with the good showing it made at the Emmys. I am particularly disgusted that West Wing Wench Mary-Louise Parker won an award for Angels. Hate her.
Sex and the City had a rather disappointing showing considering how many nominations they had. Good. Hate them.
Best line of the night: In an otherwise dumb comedy bit in the men's room, Chris Rock, standing at a urinal, yells "Hey, who the hell is Elaine Stitch?!" My sentiment exactly. (She's the old creepy lady who won "Best Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program". She does get points for being bleeped for saying the F word.)
Arrested Development took home Best Comedy along with several other awards. Excellent. More people need to be watching this show.
Seeing Simon Cowell and Donald Trump on stage together is fantastic. Hearing them read the scripted banter is, as Simon would say, dreadful. You're Fired.
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Tuesday, September 14, 2004
Bad Citizen
I'm kinda bummed. Today, my city had a special election to decide whether or not to go ahead with a big shopping development project. I'm normally not very interested in local politics, but this is something which could affect my daily life and I have been following the issue pretty closely. I wanted to vote in support of the project.
Unfortunately, my wallet (with drivers license) is still wandering around the streets of Germany. As of a few days ago, I still had my passport but I lost it. Without ID, they wouldn't let me vote. (Stupid Patriot Act.) I looked everywhere for the passport, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I'm not overly worried, because I lose things all the time and I'm sure it will turn up, I just really wish I had it for today.
If the proposal fails by one vote, you know who to blame.
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I'm kinda bummed. Today, my city had a special election to decide whether or not to go ahead with a big shopping development project. I'm normally not very interested in local politics, but this is something which could affect my daily life and I have been following the issue pretty closely. I wanted to vote in support of the project.
Unfortunately, my wallet (with drivers license) is still wandering around the streets of Germany. As of a few days ago, I still had my passport but I lost it. Without ID, they wouldn't let me vote. (Stupid Patriot Act.) I looked everywhere for the passport, but I couldn't find it anywhere. I'm not overly worried, because I lose things all the time and I'm sure it will turn up, I just really wish I had it for today.
If the proposal fails by one vote, you know who to blame.
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Most Disappointing Show
OK, let's say it up front: we all knew LAX was going to be bad. But I had high hopes that it would be good bad, but it's just bad bad. And the sad thing is that it's bad bad for all the wrong reasons.
It's not the actors: Heather Locklear is as Locklearly as ever, and Blair Underwood is very Underwoodly. (tee-hee..."Underwoodly" is funny.) It's not the script, even though it has lots of credibility gaps all over the place. LAX is ruined in the editing bay by some horrible decisions. I knew we were in trouble as soon as the credits started up with ELO's "Mister Blue Sky" as the theme music. Look, I'm a big supporter of ELO but MBS is DOA for LAX. WTF?
The template for LAX should have been "Las Vegas". Las Vegas is a dumb show but the production is so slick with its energetic music, zippy camera cuts and CG work that you can't help but make it a guilty pleasure. With LAX, we have one of the busiest airports in the world, in one of the most style-conscious cities in the world, you'd think they would have wanted to pump things up a bit.
Boo.
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OK, let's say it up front: we all knew LAX was going to be bad. But I had high hopes that it would be good bad, but it's just bad bad. And the sad thing is that it's bad bad for all the wrong reasons.
It's not the actors: Heather Locklear is as Locklearly as ever, and Blair Underwood is very Underwoodly. (tee-hee..."Underwoodly" is funny.) It's not the script, even though it has lots of credibility gaps all over the place. LAX is ruined in the editing bay by some horrible decisions. I knew we were in trouble as soon as the credits started up with ELO's "Mister Blue Sky" as the theme music. Look, I'm a big supporter of ELO but MBS is DOA for LAX. WTF?
The template for LAX should have been "Las Vegas". Las Vegas is a dumb show but the production is so slick with its energetic music, zippy camera cuts and CG work that you can't help but make it a guilty pleasure. With LAX, we have one of the busiest airports in the world, in one of the most style-conscious cities in the world, you'd think they would have wanted to pump things up a bit.
Boo.
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Sunday, September 12, 2004
Best New Show
It's still very early in the new TV season, but Mister P. has already identified the year's Best New Show: Jack & Bobby. Here's the set-up: In the year 2049, White House staff members are being interviewed about former President McCallister. The bulk of the show is made up of flashbacks in the present day, showing the future president in high school. The family consists of a single mother, younger brother Bobby and older brother Jack. I knew the basic premise of the show, but am very glad that I hadn't read anything about it and didn't know which brother was to become president. The pilot episode skillfully makes subtle references back and forth that make you think that either one could be destined for greatness.
What really sets this show apart is that you don't realize you're actually watching a teen drama. It features all the cliches: teenage angst and romance, drug use, struggling single moms... yet by putting in the context of an almost "historical documentary" of a president, the show avoids all the cheesey pitfalls of the teen genre. The primary relationship here is between the two brothers. I also really respect that it doesn't hand everything to you: In one of the future interviews, the vice-president's term is listed on-screen as 2041-2047. Wait a minute.... that's not a full 8 years. Why not? It's a nice subtle clue. They make no other reference to it, but I imagine as the series unfolds we'll slowly learn more about the president's youth as well as the history of the future.
Who woulda thunk the WB could actually pull this off? Well done.
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It's still very early in the new TV season, but Mister P. has already identified the year's Best New Show: Jack & Bobby. Here's the set-up: In the year 2049, White House staff members are being interviewed about former President McCallister. The bulk of the show is made up of flashbacks in the present day, showing the future president in high school. The family consists of a single mother, younger brother Bobby and older brother Jack. I knew the basic premise of the show, but am very glad that I hadn't read anything about it and didn't know which brother was to become president. The pilot episode skillfully makes subtle references back and forth that make you think that either one could be destined for greatness.
What really sets this show apart is that you don't realize you're actually watching a teen drama. It features all the cliches: teenage angst and romance, drug use, struggling single moms... yet by putting in the context of an almost "historical documentary" of a president, the show avoids all the cheesey pitfalls of the teen genre. The primary relationship here is between the two brothers. I also really respect that it doesn't hand everything to you: In one of the future interviews, the vice-president's term is listed on-screen as 2041-2047. Wait a minute.... that's not a full 8 years. Why not? It's a nice subtle clue. They make no other reference to it, but I imagine as the series unfolds we'll slowly learn more about the president's youth as well as the history of the future.
Who woulda thunk the WB could actually pull this off? Well done.
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Saturday, September 11, 2004
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Monday, September 06, 2004
Makes me giggle
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Saturday, September 04, 2004
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