Survivage Updated!

Today, being Thursday, is Survivor day. I can't wait to see Stephenie freak out over the creepy things in the jungle while she's out there alone. She ought to get a free pass for the next few days just for being out there alone and beating out all of the other Ulongs. Will they merge tonight or is Stephenie in for another few days of torture while Koror goes to tribal council? That would be just like the bastards who run the show.

I know at least a couple of you are big fans of the show, so here's your chance to chime in. What do you think will happen? If you've already seen the show by the time you run across this post, leave comments anyway. I'll update it and repost this after the show with my thoughts.

Spoilers and Update below the fold for you west coast folks and Aussies

Idolling along...(updated)

Idol begins in 5 minutes on the East Coast.

Predictions?
Thoughts?
Reaction?
Comment away...
Update below the fold!

Reminder to self

Do not go to bed at 9pm on Idol results night!

Holy Crap! Why didn't one of you email me? I can't believe Constantine is gone. I mean, no kiddin' he was crap on Tuesday, but they ALL were, including Bo.

Anthony, Vonzell, and Constantine in the bottom 3? COME ON. You've got to be kidding me! I would have put Anthony, Scott, and Carrie in the bottom three.

Who in hell is voting for Scott? and why?

More AI reactions here, here, here

Of course, this is good for Bo since they are no longer splitting the "rocker" vote.

Yay for Bo!
...and while we're on the subject, umm, Bo? Listen dude, you weren't fooling ANYONE with that Lenny Kravitz getup, mm'kay?

Survivor tonight?

Wahhhh. The President's on!!!!

Not sure if they're going to run Survivor or not.....
Nooooooo!

Update: It's on at 9 after the Prez!

Survivor

What a crap episode.

No surprises, just kind of blah.

Spoilers below the fold....

Idol

I think this time I'm pretty safe saying that Scott, Anthony, and Vonzell are in the bottom 3.

Anthony and Vonzell are the bottom 2.

Not sure which is going home, though. Both had at least one off performance...

Bo rocked!!!

Carrie was pretty good, but I still don't like her.

RANT! or not...

F*cking Seacrest just called THE GREATEST SONG OF ALL FREAKING TIME "a hit for Michael W. Smith in 1988"

WTF??? MORON! Paul Simon wrote the song Bridge Over Troubled Water in 1969 about the strain in his professional and personal relationship with his best friend of 30 years, Art Garfunkel. The third verse is about his first wife being depressed over finding a gray hair ("Sail on Silvergirl").

I was pissed. But then Bo opened his mouth. Happier now. Scott is good at it too, and Anthony has the same kind of voice as Art Garfunkel. Not bad, but I could have done with out the girls. They were both flat. Badly. And they skipped the second verse.

More on Idol in the extended entry.

Better Late than Never

Ok, so I was remiss in putting up my Survivor reactions last night. OK here goes.

Below the fold for US Tivo'ers who haven't seen it yet and you Aussies who'll get it next week...

AI- not intelligence, but artificial

Umm, dudes, did AI suck for everyone or was it just me?

Here's my rundown:
Carrie #1-- That was the single WORST version of Sin Wagon I ever heard. Politics aside, I love the Dixie Chicks, and that song is driving and rowdy. She was neither. She was pitchy and the performance seemed to lack energy.

Bo#1- Hell yeah. Looked sweet, sounded great. Not as good as #2, but made everyone else look like amateurs...

Vonzell #1- Looked great. Song was scoopy and pitchy. Sounded more like LeeAnn Rimes' version than Trisha Yearwood's, but, hey, Trisha's was in the movie, LeeAnn's sold more records. Go Fig. Anyway, she was clearly off her game, and the tears afterward indicated that she was pretty rattled. Not great.

Anthony #1- How in the heck did I KNOW he would pick a song like that. But he was pitchy and too breathy (as usual). Big Suck, especially going last.

Carrie #2- I thought it was a better performance than #1, but was still off. A big stretch, and she looked terrible in that outfit.

Bo #2-- Damn. He was awesome except for the questionable bling-bling, lack of shirt and FLIP-FLOPS. Barefoot would have been cool. Pimp shoes cooler. But FLIP-FLOPS???

Vonzell #2 -- Damn that girl can sing. I thought she'd do that song on 70's night. It was nice to see. Nice look, nice energy. Good recovery from the tears.

Anthony #2- WTF??? The same song as Carrie? Didn't those 2 dudes write another song?? Damn. Made him look like a moron. He was better than her, but still bad, and the fact that she did it earlier made it worse.

Bottom 2: Anthony and Carrie

See Ya: Carrie.

Not because she was bad, but because I suspect Anthony'll get sympathy/vote for the worst votes and some Carrie voters will switch after that dismal performance....

Hell, I've been wrong for 6 weeks. As long as it isn't the cute cokehead :)

Live Idol

Random embarrassing thing about me: I love Kenny and Dolly's "Islands in the Stream", it was my favorite song when I was 5 or 6.

Why, God?. Why did Vonzell, Carrie, and Anthony have to sing it? Bo was ok.

Now the audition tapes. Oh Geez. This oughtta be good.
Vonzell first. Chain of Fools. Nice. In fact better than last night. Randy thinks she's learned to believe in herself.

Anthony- I remember this. He had balls to do Jon Secada for an audition. I was amazed at the power of his voice in that room. Again, better than last night. Still lookin' goofy. Still a Clay-ken like muppet.

Oooh Bo and Carrie and a surprise after the break....

Did I mention our local Fox affiliate has its own version of Idol called "Fox50's Gimme the Mike"? Good God. The prize is a audition for a record company.

BTW I wasn't going to live blog the commercials, but the combination of the "We don't have sex" PSA with the Nationwide commercial where the kid builds the robot with the laser eyes that blows up the parents' house is enough to make anyone celibate.

Here's Carrie: "I can't make you love me". No bitch you, can't. She looks better now, I guess the stylist was worth it. Simon was surprised she was that good, and any finalist could win after all.

Finally Bo. Nice shirt. Nice song. You can tell he was nervous. He should stick to rock and soul when he does his album. Heh. Harold. Hairold? Simon likes him.

ooh a free trip home to get rejuved before the final...

This better be the last damn commercial.

Results below the fold.....

Survivor- Knife in the Back edition

Holy Sh*t!
Hella Drama tonight.

Hell of a week coming up

Good thing Survivor finished up.... This week rocks even without it:

Tuesday: Team America comes out on DVD (F*ck Yeah!), Sela Ward arrives on House
Thursday: Star Wars Ep. III Revenge of the Sith opens.

Need I say more?

Yay Tom!

Well, if you missed the Survivor finale last night, too bad, 'cause it was a doozy!

Jenn, Ian, Katie, and Tom were the final four. Jenn went home after a fire-making tiebreaker loss to Ian. In the final endurance challenge, Katie quit after 4 hours, and Ian and Tom lasted more than 12 before Ian quit.

Four hours in, Tom told Ian that if he'd quit, he'd go to the final two. Ian said no. 8+ hours later, Ian told Tom that he'd quit if Tom promised to take Katie to the final two. Tom agreed, and Ian became the last member of the jury. Dumbass.

As for the final tribal, was it me or was the cattiness so totally contrived except for Coby (who really is just a b*tch)? I mean, yeah, I knew they all disliked Katie, and that Tom played the game better than about anyone ever (can you say DOMINATION? I knew you could...) so wasn't it just a forgone conclusion that Tom would win over her? I mean duh. Ian quitting like he did cost himself some $$ but he also handed Tom a $1 million check!

I think the only vote Katie got was Coby's and that was really a vote against Tom. Even Caryn voted for Tom.

Katie spent some money getting her hair done, and Steph looked pretty good. Gregg looked ratty.

Probst's hair looked shitty, too. I think he had a bad dye job going along with the stupid cut.

Did they HAVE to ask Wanda to sing?

F*ck Yeah!

It has been a worthwhile afternoon. Consider:

Visitor # 30,000 arrived at 1:36 this afternoon via the Accidental Verbosity Site Meter (Jay and Deb win again!)

Trip to Target: Acquired 1 copy Team America: World Police (the Uncensored Uncut version)

followed by dinner at BK: brought home Luke Skywalker, Jabba the Hutt, the Millenium Falcon, and Han Solo the coffee table (toys)

I'd say it's been quite a night already. House and AI yet to come.

F*ck Yeah!

AI live

Final 3 on tonight, next week is the whole banana. Each contestant will do 3 songs tonight and has 2 phone numbers...Updated at each commercial....

Clive Davis is tonight's guest judge!

Moving the Comments below the fold!

AI-- The Final Two

Below the Fold

Bang! Bang!

This one is for all of you (probably 2 of you) who know what it means when I say, "It's Campfire Time!" in my Mr. Ratcliffe voice..... And anyone else who appreciates dark humor and/or the Beatles.....

Maxwell's Silver Hammer

(h/t Contagion)

Survivage!

As if this week wasn't TV good enough already (new House!), tomorrow night's the premiere of Season 11 of Survivor.....

16 new Survivors and two returning competitors......
Spoilers in the extended entry

I do not think that word means what you think it means....

Funny, but this particular movie quote covers two of the new shows I saw this week.

First up, last night after CSI I caught the premiere of CBS' Criminal Minds starring, among others, Shemar Moore, Thomas Gibson, and Mandy Pantinkin (thus the Princess Bride quote). Patinkin's character is a FBI profiler who long ago "retired" to teaching at the academy and comes back out into the field to lead a team of profilers as they chase psychopaths and serial killers across the country. I had two impressions, first, that the pilot episode was all about Silence of the Lambs. There were a number of references to the film, both visual and plot-wise. Second, the show works hard to move away from those references. The episode started slow, but gained momentum as the hour went on, and I think I'll watch it again on Wednesday night at its regular time.

Next up, NBC's Inconceivable (only in this case it means EXACTLY what you think it means). I wasn't planning on watching this show. Between my loathing of any kind of baby show, and my preconceived notion that it was going to be sappy and dumb, I was rather planning on avoiding it and watching Numbers instead. However, I caught it before Numbers started and it hooked me. The show is a lot more like ER was at the beginning of its run than I expected. Of course Ming-Na as one of the stars doesn't hurt. The show focuses on the doctors and staff of a fertility clinic as they help their patients (and in some cases themselves) along the road to parenthood. Like ER, it was engaging and interesting, and in some cases altogether unexpected. For example, one of the storylines of this episode was what happens after a surrogate gave birth to her own baby, rather than the baby she was supposed to be carrying for an infertile couple. Not bad for a Friday night show. I'll probably try to see it next week.

The third new show I saw was E-ring, NBC's pentagon drama starring Benjamin Bratt and Dennis Hopper. Not bad. Good suspense, although not quite a Tom Clancy novel. I'm sure military types will freak out about how unrealistic it is, but hell, I liked it, for what it's worth, as did DH, so we'll probably try to catch this one again.

Two shows I saw that I don't care if I see again: Bones (ruin a good book, why don'tcha?) and Martha's Apprentice (better than the Donald's, but eh. It's the Apprentice)

Cinderella!

I forgot to add another crucial element of my shopping trip today. While I was at Target I picked up Cinderella on DVD. It came out today, and with Disney's draconian video release rules, I usually make sure to pick one up early on if it's a movie I want. Not to mention that dvds are usually cheaper the first week they're out.

Turns out I picked up the last one in the store. The main "Cinderella" display was empty, so I walked back to the "new releases" rack, and there were 2 left. The lady next to me took one and I took the other. This was at noon! Either they didn't order enough, or Cinderella is a cult classic in ways I never heard of.

Of course it is my favorite Disney movie. Sleeping Beauty is my favorite of the Princesses, but Cinderella is my favorite Disney movie, followed closely by Robin Hood and Lady and the Tramp. So I was SUPER HAPPY to pick one up.

I suspect there were more in crates in the back, but the dude in the video department was telling people to try again later or tomorrow, so they were probably still in the boxes.

Oh, and the ones at Target come with a glass slipper charm... (which sadly enough is not glass).

In lieu of House tonight...

I will be watching Cinderella and crocheting.

Thanks Fox. I didn't even get to watch the game I wanted to see since it was on during the day (Go Red Sox!)

Moogies!

The greatest thing about 3 free months of HBO, Skinamax, and Starz! is that you get to catch up on all the movies that weren't worth going to see or buying the DVDs (I don't watch enough for Netflix to be worth it, and I refuse to go to Blockbuster)

New to us movies so far: Calendar Girls (excellent, even my hubby liked it), Fat Albert (watched the second half, it was better than we expected), Alien vs. Predator (I thought it was hokey, he seemed to like it), Cold Mountain (although I suppose this doesn't count as 30 seconds was about all I could take before I shut it off) and several movies we love (including Kill Bill 2, FOTR, and Dave)

It has been kind weird watching movies in fullscreen again (I only buy WS DVDs)....

Also, it appears a DVR may appear in our house. One owned by us. ANy recommendations as to reliability and price???

RIP, funny man

With the passing of Richard Pryor this weekend, we've lost yet another genuinely funny comedian.

And I've lost one of my favorite lines of all time: "I ain't dead yet, muthaf*cka"

Late to the party as usual...

So last night DH and were up late celebrating the last "non-school night" of vacation, and we were watching TV when Bowling for Columbine came on Bravo.  Neither of us had seen it, and as we're not directly paying that Fat Fcuk to see it, we decided to watch it.  Quite an interesting movie, and I had been unaware of the fact that the Fat Fcuk, the Nichols brothers, and Eric Harris (of the Columbine massacre) all lived in the same area of MI as kids.  Kinda creepy.  But still....

Here's my one word movie review:  Hypocrisy.

Here's my 8 word movie review:  Holy shit! What a difference a year makes.

One of the main subtexts of the film, as far as I could tell is that it's hypocritical to tell out kids not to shoot each other while we bomb the hell out of innocent countries....  That is, we cannot simultaneously demand peace and peddle war, even on different scales.

Who does Señor Fat Fcuk (and any number of others in the film) blame for this?  Why President Bill Clinton, of course.  Funny how just 2 years later Clinton is the benevolent savior of the universe and George W Bush is the only bastard that ever peddled war to the rest of the world.  How conveniently the righteous indignation over the bombing of Bosnia was forgotten as soon as we went to war in the Middle East.

The other thing that got to me was this statement "[during the Clinton administration] 500,000 Iraqi children were killed by bombing raids and sanctions", displayed while a picture of a US bomber dropping bombs was also shown.  Clearly implying that US bombs did most of the killing, when the reality of the matter is that the vast majority of those Iraqi children died because Saddam and friends wouldn't cooperate with the sanctions AND pocketed the Oil for Food money.

At least the shithead was blaming it on the Clinton administration for a change, evidently he hadn't gotten BDS yet.....

The saddest thing is, I used to love the Fat Fcuk.  Ben can vouch for this.  We both were HUGE fans of TV Nation, especially after he stood up for Sean Boyd, a weatherman from Fresno who was fired from his job after refusing to lie (scroll down to "Story #3") about the weather forecast during a station-sponsored event.
It was also interesting to see Matt Stone (of South Park) agreeing with the Fat Fcuk, as in subsequent years he and Trey have literally skewered the Fat Fcuk on South Park and in Team America.

Funny how things change.  Hypocritical Fcuk.

Survivor 12: Panama - Exile Island

CBS released the information on the new crop of Survivors who will return to Panama for the 12th season of the hit reality show (that I am evidently obsessed with...)

Seems as if this time, those voted out will be sent off to "exile island" to fend for themselves during the rest of the run of the show.  As a twist (since it worked so well last season, right Gary??) an immunity idol will be hidden on Exile Island, and any of the voted-out players who finds it may return to the game.

That's kinda dumb.

Anyway, click here for the info and bios of the Season 12 castaways.

That's just a Bad Movie

"'Tristan' [and Isolde] like a Monty Python Movie wthout jokes"-- Headline seen on Yahoo! News tonight.

Yeah, I know it's Wednesday

But any day is a good day for 24...

For Bou, Ben, Jen, and the rest of the 24 crew:  Top 60 Facts about Jack Bauer
(yeah, I know it should really be just 24, but I didn't make it up... Think of it as each minute in one hour.  That ought to work)

My personal favorites (hmmm.... there are 12, read 'em twice and you'll have that list of 24):

"If Jack Bauer was in a room with Hitler, Stalin, and Nina Meyers, and he had a gun with 2 bullets, he'd shoot Nina twice."

"Guns dont kill people, Jack Bauer kills people."

"Upon hearing that he was played by Kiefer Sutherland, Jack Bauer killed Sutherland.  Jack Bauer gets played by no man."

"Killing Jack Bauer doesn't make him dead. It just makes him angry."

"When you open a can of whoop-ass, Jack Bauer jumps out."

"Jesus died and rose from the dead in 3 days. It took Jack Bauer less than an hour. And he's done it twice."

"What color is Jack Bauer's blood?  Trick question.  Jack Bauer does not bleed."

"Superman's only weakness is Kryptonite. Jack Bauer laughs at Superman for having a weakness."

"1.6 billion Chinese are angry with Jack Bauer. Sounds like a fair fight."

"Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you."

"Your attraction to Jack Bauer in no way affects your sexual orientation."

And finally: "Jack Bauer doesn't miss. If he didn't hit you it's because he was shooting at another terrorist twelve miles away."

And for more random facts about Jack Bauer, go here.  You can also rate the Jack Facts.

h/t robbo

I am officially un-watching Project Runway

Those f***ing scumbags voted out Nick over f***ing SANTINO when at least his outfit was finished.

Grrrrr.  Hate.  Santino.  HATE.  SANTINO.

Sorry, Nicky, babe.  You were awesome, you have great skills, and you're a good person.  If I was rich and thin I'd call you for a dress tomorrow.

Oh well, looking forward to tomorrow, when the pictures from fashion week should be able to tell me who the final three are from Daniel V, Chloe, Santino, and Kara, who so doesn't deserve to be there either.

My final 3 would be Nick, Chloe, and Andrae.  Or maybe instead of Andrae, Daniel Franco, who is a brilliant tailor and got hosed by the lingerie challenge, IMHO.

That's ok.  Survivor tonight.  Go old dudes!!!!!!

Insert high-pitched little girl scream here

Yippee!!!  Guess what I found in Target today? THIS

And it turns out that my favorite episode of all time just happens to be #6, which is on this set!  YAY!!!!

Update: This is one of the BEST DVD sets ever. Lots of artwork and extras, and the menus are cool. There's even a section with 50 profiles of not only the main characters, but several minor characters as well.

The cartoons are remastered and cleaned up and they look and sound better than they did in 1983!!!

PS does anybody else not remember the Orko music sounding quite so much like the Macarena?

So, who is YOUR favorite He-Man character? Me, I love the Sorceress.

House: finally worth blogging about!

Despite one of the worst traffic snarls of my life (Thanks Clippers), I managed to get home in time for House last night.

Which was a good thing.  With the Stacy plot out of the way, I guess the writers thought it was time to bring the H-man back in full force.  A great ep, especially the subplot with the sleazy researcher.

It's widely known in the medical research community that doctors and scientists who want to take shortcuts or outstep the FDA take their work overseas.  Usually, that means India because the medico-legal system hasn't caught up with technology.  India is unique in that it is a chaotic third world country, but it is also home to a wide array of state-of-the-art medical technology.  Doctors like Weber and sleazy pharmaceutical companies can test their drugs on people you've never heard of who would otherwise suffer in silence without having to go through the normal procedures, including long periods of expensive animal testing (which usually is done to verify that 1) the drug isn't lethal at normal dosage, and 2) it actually has some worthwhile effect)

Furthermore, India (and other small countries) is home to a number of questionable medical science journals.  Like most other professions that utilize the written word to communicate, biomedical science has a number of trade publications, commonly called medical journals, in which doctors and researchers publish their findings.  These journals, however, are not equal.  The top journals are the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, and for more preclinical work, the journals Science and Nature.  There are also many specialty journals such as the Archives of General Psychiatry, or Alcoholism in Clinical and Experimental Research.  Both types of journals, general and specific, have their strata.    At the top are journals that most researchers strive to get published in.  At the bottom are journals that will take ANYTHING, as long as you pay for the pages you submit and it looks vaguely scientific.  Sometimes good researchers who feel they are on to something important will use these journals to get their ideas published ahead of someone else, but most commonly these crappy journals are used to publish work that no one else will touch, because after all, the university administration  only looks at the number of paper you put out, not the quality of your publications, although that is slowly changing.

When House accuses Weber of publishing in the New Dehli Journal of Medicine, what he's really saying is that Weber's work isn't strong enough to be published in the US and that the drug isn't good enough to be FDA approved.  And he proves it, if only to himself....  though that was a pretty damn bad migrane, I must say.

Best line of the night: "House, you can't keep doing this.  Get a hobby.  Get a Hooker."--Wilson.

Anyone else notice the confirmation of House's address at the end of the show?  He indeed lives at 221 B Baker St.

Idol Chatter

Didn't see much of the girls on Tuesday, but did see all of the guys last night.

My top 4 guys:
Chris
Taylor
Elliot
Ace

My bottom 4 guys:
David
Kevin
Gedeon
Bobby,

David and Kevin, Adios.

For the ladies:
Top 2:
Mandisa
Lisa


Bottom 2 (those I would send home):
Stevie
Brenna

What do y'all think.  Other than that I need a damn TiVo?

More Geekitude - Child of the 80's version

I love YouTube.com!

The Sesame Street 12 video

and myriad gems from Square One TV:
The intro
The 9 song
MathMan (there are several others here)

BTW, just got this.  Can't wait to watch it!

Notafinger!

You may not have heard this one, as Hollywood also lost Barney Fife and Mr. Furley today, but one of my favorite Hollywood Dads passed away today as well.

Darrren McGavin, who played the Dad in A Christmas Story, and in many other films, died today in Los Angeles of natural causes.

God bless, and I hope you spirit flies as freely as the clouds of obscenity still floating somewhere over Lake Michigan

Dancin' ! -- Or how to turn a PhD into a blithering idiot...

Ok, so you probably know I was hooked on Dancing with the Stars this season like it was my own personal crack.

Yes, I even skipped Survivor to watch it a couple times.

Last night I was the ultimate reality show buffoon. Yelling at the TV, calling my show buddy (CaltechMom) repeatedly, and generally being an idiot.

At least I didn't throw anything. (ask my DH about football and why my remote on/off button barely works....)

As you may know, after Thursday's final dances, Drew and Cheryl led with a perfect score of 60.  Stacy and Tony were behind with a score of 56, and Jerry and Anna were in the rear with 53.  Well, there was a final dance last night to complete the judges scores.  Jerry and Anna went first, and scored 27/30 a personal best.  Then Stacy and Tony did a good number and scored a perfect 30/30.  I agreed, as it was the best dance I had seen from them in the 8 weeks of the show.  Drew and Cheryl were last, and they were fabulous.  But they only scored 27.  Enough to stay in first place by one point....

I call my mother.  "Rigged!" I scream when she answers the phone.  I agree, she says, and then my dad chimes in with "Crap!"

Which is about as bad as he'll get.

We agree it's rigged for Stacy, and we hang up.

10 min later, they announce the third place contestant---- (wait for it....)

Stacy.

Wha???  Ok.  I was convinced Drew and Cheryl were done for.  Sweeeet.

So Drew and Cheryl were eventually named the winners, and I couldn't be happier.

To see what all the fuss is about, here's Drew and Cheryl's "Thrilling" Pasa Doble, and here is their perfect score freestyle dance from Thursday, set to Big and Rich's "Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy"

And Drew's brother Nick? Daypass material. Especially now that he ditched Daisy Duke.

Check local listings!

WooHooooo!

House is on at 9 (new ep: Sex Kills), and TAR is on at 10!

For once, I can watch both!

So stoked!

Epiphany

I came to a realization this morning while the coffee was brewing:

I am a reality TV junkie.

Funny thing, though, it almost happened by default.  See I have always been a people watcher.  Get me to Disneyland and I love nothing better than to sit out in front of the castle on a bench, eat some overpriced ice cream and see who walks by.  So I suppose watching reality shows is a natural extension of that.  Don't get me wrong, I don't watch them all, in fact, I am pretty discriminating in my choices.

For example, my "must watch" shows this season include AI (but only AFTER the top 24 are picked), TAR, Survivor, Dog the Bounty Hunter (on the 12 am rerun), EM: Home Edition, and the recently concluded Dancing with the Stars, Skating with Celebrities, and Project Runway (yay Chloe!).  The only scripted "must watches" on the list are House (which is the bloody best show on TV!) and 24.

One step down, the "will watch" list includes a lot of scripted shows, like the various L and O franchises, CSI, Criminal Minds (love it, never remember when it's on), and Numbers.  The reality "will watch" list includes Mythbusters (on at the SAME F-ING TIME as House and Dog), various Discovery Channels series (I was soooo hooked on Dangerous Catch and Iceberg Cowboys), Queer Eye, and Supernanny/ Nanny 911.

Ok, maybe I do watch a lot of TV, but as the inimitable Tim Gunn says, "It relaxes me."  Watching stupid people do stupid things is a great way to wind down from a long day of BS.

Also, like Ben, it's wallpaper much of the time.  Just sound on for noise to help me concentrate on whatever I'm doing at the time.

Yeah, I'm weird.

24: The Killing Season

So last night was a Twofer.  We lost the Hobbit and Tony, both.  Oh, and Harry the security guard.  But he doesn't count thankyouverymuch.

After everything, I was sad to see the Hobbit go, even though I hated his wretched ass.  And Tony?  Well I still haven't been able to get past thinking he was the terrorist in the first season.  He's with Michelle now.

What about this DHS chick with the bad smoker's wrinkles?  And the Veep?  Now what?  And where are they planning to hit with the canisters?

Will Kim Bauer and C Thomas Howell escape?  Will Jack punch him in the mouth?

Who's next to die?  Bill?  Audrey?  Curtis?  Aaron?  Mike?  Martha?  The Prez?

House and TAR on tonight!

Suck on MY salty chocolate balls

Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef for 9 years on South Park has called it quits, evidently because he was insulted:

Hayes said the show's parody of religion in general was part of what he saw as a "growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs" in the media, including the recent controversy over cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs ... begins," Hayes said.

South Park co-creator Matt Stone was quick to point out the inherent hypocrisy in Hayes' statement:

"In ten years and over 150 episodes of 'South Park,' Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews," Stone said in a statement issued by the Comedy Central network. "He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

He added: "Of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well."

I'll miss Chef, especially as the entire point of the show is that NO ONE is above parody based on religion, wealth, education, sexual orientation, ability, or gender. Or anything else for that matter. To leave the show because it hit a little too close to home is hypocritical and pissy.

I hope Xenu is happy with him.

The war has merely begun...

As you may have heard, Comedy Central abruptly decided to replace the anti-scientology episode "Trapped in the Closet" last Wednesday with "Chef's Salty Chocolate Balls". Many blog reports indicate that this is due to a threat from Couch Jumper McXenu himself, stating that if the episode ever aired again, Paramount would pull all it's MI:3 advertising from Comedy Central, and perhaps all of the other Viacom channels. He is of course, denying the rumor, which has to fight for space in the denial bin with the "Tom is gay", "Katie is leaving", "Tom's not the father", and "Tom's Crazy" rumors.

Of course Matt and Trey had something to say about it:

"So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"

It was signed "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu."

The new season starts next week, folks. Stay tuned!

Mwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Ben Stein is my Hero

"Stop spitting in the face of Americans and maybe we will go to the movies," [Stein] said.

No House tonight, it's Dog time!

Gosh Darn American Idol...

Of course this means that I am free to watch as much Dog the Bounty Hunter as I like before TAR starts at 10.

Yes. I said Dog the Bounty Hunter. I love it. I'll probably watch it again on the 12am rerun, too.

Nothing to see here, Move along!

More tomorrow, I hope.  Work is catching up with me....

Just a reminder, the new season of South Park starts tonight!

The Return of Chef

Matt and Trey RAWK.

In last night's SP, they
- blasted Scientology
- Killed Chef off
- Brought Chef back in a way that doesn't need Isaac Hayes' voice.....

Evil Servants of the Dark Lord Xenu indeed....

The Episode is here (download and BitTorrent).
The BBC review is here.

Spoilers below the jump....

Darth Chef.

excuse the poor photo quality.

« Hide "The Return of Chef"

More Amusement

You Are Cindy Brady

Warm hearted and sweet, you have a childlike innocence that lets you see the good in everyone. But you're also a bit of a baby. You stick your nose where it doesn't belong... and cry when you get caught!

An interesting proposition

T1G asks, if you were building a house for the Almighty, what would you include?

"Last night, I watched that house makeover show. I don't remember the name of it, but it's host is way too wired, or slightly insane. They go around destroying people's houses, and then remodelling, or rebuilding them. It was alright...

Anyway, during one of the commercial breaks, it looked as if they were going to rebuild a church, which got me thinking. How would they hide their project from Him... do they make some special bus? And, if Gott were to have a house built, what special appliances, or features, would he desire?"

Speaking of Jack Bauer....

Was anyone else happy to see Dr. Romano with both of his arms back?

BTW, according to the 24 site, his character's name is "Graham" and he is a "power broker"... and may have had something to do with the plane crash that screwed up the previous president....

No Cable!

The cable's out at the hotel, so somebody better liveblog the AI results show!

Elliott and Taylor RULE! </fangirl>

So much to write, so little time....

I know I've been rather boring of late.  As usual, it's work getting in the way of blogging....

So here's what's on my mind (other than work):

AI:  Is it rigged for Katherine?  I love Taylor, and I hear he kicked her ass up between her shoulder blades tonight.  Will he win?

House:  Is it all a dream (a la Pam Ewing and Bobby) or does House really get shot and punch Wilson?

24:  Best moments of the night: 1) Marty's face as President Weasel was led away (there's a great line in the Count of Monte Cristo about Edouard smiling a "secret smile" as he "watched a scene that was truly comprehensible only to himself and two others".  Her look was exactly as I imagined his face...
2) Anyone notice the name of the Chinese freighter?  The "Shanghai" LMAO!!!!

Do I watch any other networks besides Fox?  Evidently not....

AI blogging: Kat Sucks edition

This is what all the fuss was about?  Katherine's rendition of Somewhere over the Rainbow?  PLEASE.  It blew ass.  She was on pitch, and that's about all it had to recommend it, regardless of whether she did it better this time or not.

Yes, when you do an iconic song you need to switch it up in order to own it, but SOtR is a CLASSIC.  You do not turn it into Britney Spears pop!

Also, you DUMB BITCH, you are a SINGER.  You should have that first note in your head.  BEFORE you start.  If you can hit NO other note on your own, you need to be able to hit the starting pitch.

And what's with the jewelery?  Sheesh.

Reality TV junkie: OD on finales

For once the guy who should have one DID WIN.

Make that for twice.  Congrats American Idol Taylor and Top Chef Harold.

And, BTW, no matter how many fancy edits you used, it was clear that Tiffani was SOOO not going to win.  Especially after she tried to claim Dave's dessert as her own....

Slowly, Slowly

Coming back to life, that is. Been glued to a keyboard for 3 weeks now, trying to get the grants out. One is off my plate, in more capable hands than my own, and the other needs all the TLC I can give it between now and tomorrow afternoon.

It will go out then. Oh yes, it will go out.

Spent the weekend in Fresberg, helping my mother pick paint colors and playing with the kiddies when I wasn't stuck in front of yet another computer. A much needed break, let me tell you.

Two things made me laugh: Christina muses the future, and puts me (ME!?!!?!?!?!??) in charge on an intergalactic women's retreat and fat farm. Although the working with Bou thing is about right. I suspect the two of us would work together pretty well....

Also, sarahk finally posts her 24 finale recap. Involuntary snorting ensued. You have been warned.

I Know ya planned it

The Zarqawi AirStrike video.... jazzed up

It's Friday and I feel like crap

So, here are some more funny kitties!

h/t Rosemary

Your Weekend Flashback

Depeche Mode and the World Trade Center in all its glory, what could be better?

h/t Agent Bedhead

Long but worth it

The video below, not this post.

Kevin Smith tells the story of why he didn't write the new Superman flick.  NSFW, except with headphones.  After all, this IS Kevin Smith.

How did I never f*cking find this before????

Kevin Smith has a blog.

Holy Shit.  I love it.

For all the Sci-Fi freaks with cable....

Serenity is playing on Cinemax On Demand (free if you have Cinemax) until 8/16, and I assume on Cinemax all month.

We will be watching it tonight.

Seven is the TiVo Anniversary

For our anniversary we bought ourselves something useful: a TiVo and a DVD-R.

How did I ever live before TiVo?

No, really.

No shit, folks. I was a TiVo atheist. I couldn't think of a single reason to have a TiVo. I had a VCR, and if I wasn't lazy I could record whatever I wanted, right?

Well, that was before I discovered that there are a bazillion public domain educational shows on in the middle of the night in the LA area. And there's no good way to find out when they're on.

So we decided to get one for DH to use to record these shows and drop them to DVDs to use in his class. And at the same time, we can use it to record/watch all of our favorite shows.

In the process of doing this, I found a WHOLE bunch of shows that I love that I didn't even know were still on. For example, the original Whose Line is on BBC America in the mornings. No kidding. And Monty Python is on PBS at random times. And Quincy is on everyday on a local independent channel! Just randomly by chance, looking for something else.

I LOVE QUINCY!

Within about 20 minutes I had more than 20 shows set up for Season Pass. Yeah, I suck.

And I will probably never watch live TV again.

South Park RULZ!

See here.

On a related note, I think we finally know who really SHOULD run Hollyweird:  Matt and Trey....

Goodbye Mr. Agony of defeat!

ABC's Wide World of Sports is about to be no more:

"ESPN will become the overarching brand for all sports programming carried on the ABC Television Network beginning Saturday, Sept. 2 -- the debut of ABC's college football season. "We're using the word evolutionary," said George Bodenheimer, President, ESPN, Inc. and ABC Sports and Co-Chairman, Disney Media Networks. "We're trying to move the ball forward in sports television and we think this is another step in that direction." "

South Park: Smarter, Funnier, and adding insult to injury

From Yahoo! UK:

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein is being made to watch his appearance in cult cartoon South Park while he is behind bars.

The deposed leader on trial in Iraq was featured in the movie spin-off as the lover of the devil. South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut featured Hussein and Satan attempting to take over the world together.

Speaking at the Edinburgh International Television Festival, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said US Marines guarding the former dictator during his trial for genocide were making him watch the movie "repeatedly".

"I have it on pretty good information from the Marines on detail in Iraq that they showed him the movie last year. That's really adding insult to injury. I bet that made him really happy," Stone said.

For those of you not familiar with South Park's depiction of Saddam, he is a Candian pansy (with requisite flip-top head) who was mauled to death by badgers before descending into Hell and beginning a homosexual relationship with Satan.... who eventually discovers that Saddam is only after his power as lord of the underworld.....

When Satan confronts Saddam, he whines his way back into Satan's heart with a song and dance number worthy of Rogers and Hammerstein (NSFW for language)

Update: Welcome Townhall readers! Thanks for dropping by, and feel free to click around and check out more content. Or visit some of the wonderful blogs listed on either sidebar!

They Might Be Tiny Toons

For your Friday viewing pleasure, Hampton Pig and Plucky Duck in
Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by They Might Be Giants.

Two great tastes that taste great together:

Sad as Hell

The Crocodile Hunter is dead.

Whoah!

Have y'all seen Dancing With the Stars this season?

Joey Lawrence:

             
then....                                      and now

Project Runway: Olympus Fashion Week

My New Theme Song

Courtesy of Weird Al:

Holy Google, Batman!

Wow, I'm link #10 for "olympus fashion week project runway". Seven of the nine links ahead of me are either OFW official pages, or major media pages covering OFW. And I'm only the 3rd blog, behind the greatness that is BPR...

If you got here looking for fabulousness, welcome, and have a look around!

Who says Project Runway isn't popular.....

Project Runway!

Holy Crap!

See below the fold-->

Friday Funnies

South Park AND Dog the Bounty Hunter.  That's hard to beat.

Here's Cartman the Hall Monitor:

And Cartman the Hall Monitor with his Crew:

BTW this is a classic episode, "Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy", pointing out the double standard whereby male teachers who molest students spend their lives in jail while a female teacher practically gets away with it because banging the teacher is every guy's fantasy.

And while I'm on the subject, some gratuitous Van Halen video love:

Sammy Hagar is a tool. David Lee Roth kicks ass.

Son of Diet Coke and Mentos

Awwwww SHITE

He's not going to make The Hobbit. Not because he doesn't want to, but because of studio business bullshit.

Fuck New Line. Fuck them up their Fucking Asses.

h/t Ith

Or maybe not.....

About the Hobbit?  MGM is PISSED:

In the most recent flurry of events, Peter Jackson and producing
partner Fran Walsh posted a letter Sunday night on the "LOTR" fan site
Theonering.net saying that New Line told them last week that it was
going to make "The Hobbit" without their services.

The letter
also reiterated in detail Jackson's stance on "The Hobbit" -- that he
is not willing to have a serious conversation about directing the film
until his ongoing lawsuit with New Line over what he considers improper
accounting practices over "LOTR" profits is settled.

New Line's
given reason for proceeding sans Jackson is that the studio's rights to
the pic are about to expire, and seeing as the lawsuit with Jackson
isn't moving ahead, well, the message was that New Line is.

All
of this has riled MGM, which in recent weeks has been openly touting
the fact that the newly revamped studio is serious about making "The
Hobbit" -- with Jackson.

An MGM spokesman said that "the matter of Peter Jackson directing 'The Hobbit' films is far from closed."

Though
New Line no-commented inquiries about Jackson's statement, the
mini-major's move is a loud statement to both MGM and Jackson that the
studio is in the driver's seat when it comes to "The Hobbit."

Big studio $$ vs little studio  $$.  Gee, I think the winner will be all of us.

h/t Anwyn at EV

Two in a row

PBS gets it right this time with a great story about Project Valour-IT on their MediaShift blog:

...While most of the bloggers who supported Valour-IT have been on the conservative side of the political spectrum, FbL notes that the project cuts across ideology by focusing on helping out wounded veterans.

"Doing a program like this is so beyond politics," FbL said. "You have someone here who is hurt, and you have the ability to make their lives better, why wouldn't you do that? That's part of our success with this. How do you say no to this without looking like a total jerk? [laughs] You can say, "It's all George Bush's fault." Yes, it is, but how are you going to help? It's beyond politics and it's so human. It's a winning concept and I am lucky enough to know brilliant people who have made this project work."

Valour-IT is another result of average folks banding together online to make a difference, getting beyond petty politics and government bureacracy to get something done and do it right. It's one of those classic holiday stories of people giving of their time, their money and even the bully-pulpit space of their blogs to help others in need.

Iiiiiiiiit's Barney!

Merry Christmas from the First Pooches, Barney and Miss Beazley, and First Kitty Willy!

Not everyone in Hollywood is a prick... UPDATED!

You Firefly/ Serenity fans will enjoy this one.

"...[L]ast year a group called Booster Events held this massive Firefly/Serenity convention in California last year called "Flanvention." A lot of the cast shows up, there were panels and dinners and photo shoots and whatnot, membership was limited, and it was a lot of fun, a way for fans of the cancelled-too-soon show and because-we-demanded-it movie to talk to their favorite stars. This year's hotly anticipated event sold out months ago and it's happening this weekend, right now.

Or it would be. The organizers cancelled it. On Thursday."

"As stunned and betrayed fans began to arrive the California Browncoats jumped up to meet the frantic challenge of organizing a convention during, you know, the actual convention. Fans settled in to party among themselves anyway, mutter dark things about Booster Events, and make the best of it of the newly formed Browncoat Backup Bash.

Then the stars started showing up.

Adam "Jayne" Baldwin showed up Thursday night, knowing the con was cancelled and fans were left hanging. He hung around chatting with fans for hours and mentioned others would probably show up.

Friday Nathan "Mal" Fillion, Alan "Wash" Tudyk, Mark "Badger" Sheppard, Jonathan "Dead Guy From 'The Message'" Woodward, and Christina "Saffron" Hendricks came by for autographs and pictures and mainly just to say hi. Without appearance fees or the autograph cash that usually get stars to show up, they came anyway. Alan Tudyk wan't even supposed to be at the event due to prior commitments, and he came anyway. They knew their fans had been shafted and they stepped up to make it worthwhile. Fillion brought a box full of Firefly memorabilia and other personal loot and started passing it out to fans who had come from Australia, the UK and other far-off places."

You can dress a thug in fancy clothes...

But you can't take him to church.

Sorry, David Stern.  Bullshit fines aren't the answer.  All 7 of the suspended players should face the same punishment as Ron Artest.  If you want them to play nice, make so that they play nice or don't play at all.

Dammit.

Don't know what to get your lady for Christmas?

SNL has the answer..... (NSFW without headphones! This version isn't beeped out, video is PG-13)



Lately, SNL isn't worth watching, but this cracked me up. If it's consistently this funny, it might go back on the list.

Too Hot for Hot Air!

But not for us! NSFW without headphones, but the video is, well, hell, it's Sesame Street.

h/t Patterico

It's gotta be the Holly-Daze

This blog is now officially on hiatus for the holidays.

Of course, as loyal readers, you know that probably means I'll be posting pretty frequently. :-)

Anyway, I leave you with this, a message of love, peace, and tolerance for the Holidays...
(NSFW without headphones)

I have the MOST CREATIVE adopted Blog-Sibs EVAH

Especially when it comes to dealing with the Proselytizing Posses of the world.

First, it was Mrs. Who with her tale of Jehovah's Witness Frightening, now adopted Blog-Bro Contagion shares the tale of a fed-up and pissed-off Aussie who garnered a little revenge on the Mormon Bicycle Gang:

Hey House fans..... EWWWW

Cameron is marrying Chase!

Jennifer Morrison and Jesse Spencer, who co-star on Fox's medical series "House," became engaged over the holidays in Paris, Morrison's spokeswoman confirmed Tuesday to The Associated Press.

Morrison and Spencer, both 27, met "while filming the pilot of `House' in 2004," Danica Smith said in a statement.

No wedding date has been set.

For Eric

Who so LOVES Zombies.....

h/t Little Miss Attila

This'll warm you up

If you don't at least groove to this a little, you must be dead.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the South's favorite band:

h/t that crazy f*cker yabu, who's always good for a story

Jack Bauer's Life Lessons

What Jack Bauer has learned from life, as told to two writers from 24:

F**k diplomacy.
Actions speak louder than words. Though shouting can also be effective.
If you shoot a man's wife in the knee and he still doesn't give you the information, he's bad.
Revenge is the cruelest trick. I've seen it taken out on others, I've been victim to it, I've even done it myself. But it doesn't change anything, and it doesn't bring comfort.
Trust is the key to survival. And by trust, I mean getting out of the way and letting me do what I need to do

h/t The Jawas

Remembering John Cage....

Seeing Peter MacNicol as the jerk du jour on 24 this season kinda put Barry White in my head.

For the rest of you who miss Ally McBeal, too...

Bros vs. Hoes

So there's this show on Spike.  It's called Pros vs. Joes.  Basically, wannabe jockstraps with ego problems put themselves on the line in sporting contests versus retired pro athletes.  And it's hosted by funny man USC flunky Petros Papadakis.

It's so pathetic it's funny.  I mean, very few of these guys are even CLOSE to the pros.  And if they do win, it's often a fluke weird thing.  Pretty much the jockstraps are competing to see who gets their ass kicked the LEAST.

But we love it.  We watched it religiously during the first season last spring and laughed our asses off.  This season, I had the TiVo all ready for it, until it crapped out two weeks ago.

And then I forgot to reset the season pass....

Fast forward to last night. I don't know what time it was, but it was between 11pm and 12am.  We'd been laying in bed a while, watching TV (in fact, Top Design was on).  I was flipping channels during a commercial and  came upon the new season of Pros vs Joes.

Needless to say, I was out of bed, down the stairs, and turning the TV on faster than DH could ask "where are you going??".

Mr. Tivo is now set to dutifully record P vs J anytime it comes on.

Heh.

As for the title of this post, that's how we refer to the show in question.

We :heart: Tim Gunn

Project Runway and Parsons School of Design Guru and all around good guy Tim Gunn has an exciting new job:  he's about to become the new Chief Creative Officer at Liz Claiborne, Inc.

This is a fabulous opportunity for Tim, and a much needed shot in the arm for Liz.

And maybe a more flexible schedule for shooting PR4?

Fabulous, Tim! Carry on!

h/t the BPR team

Big Game not your bag?

ESPN has bowling, a Dog Show, and Figure Skating today.

TNT has a marathon of "The Closer," which I hear is very good

SciFi has a Ghost Hunters marathon

USA has a Monk marathon

Or you can always watch football on CBS.....

Super Bowl aftermath

Ugh.

Happy for the Colts, but man what a crappy game. The score was close for a while, but the Colts ran up and down the field on the Bears.

And the commercials pretty much sucked. 24 hours out here's what I remember: Carlos Mencia was funny. I liked the Dalmation ad. And the two animated Coke Ads were pretty sweet.

In the "funny once, but I don't care if I ever see them again" category: Bud Light: No Fist Bump, Sprint's Connectile Dysfunction, and the Garmin Mapasaurus.

DH liked the Tundra ad with the cliff stop. A lot.

In the "vomitaceous" category we have Dave and Oprah in "Honey", Dave and Dr. Phil (all), that Blockbuster ad with the poor little mouse, and especially the Snickers commercial.

Boy that was a BRIGHT idea, Snickers people.  Sell a SNACK FOOD with a commercial that makes people barf. BRILLIANT.

And what kind of rock is this guy under?

No commercial that appeared last night during Super Bowl XLI directly addressed Iraq, unlike a patriotic spot for Budweiser beer that ran during the game two years ago. But the ongoing war seemed to linger just below the surface of many of this year's commercials.

More than a dozen spots celebrated violence in an exaggerated, cartoonlike vein that was intended to be humorous, but often came across as cruel or callous.
...
It was as if Madison Avenue were channeling Doc in "West Side Story," the gentle owner of the candy store in the neighborhood that the two street gangs, the Jets and Sharks, fight over. "Why do you kids live like there's a war on?" Doc asks plaintively. (Well, Doc, this time, there is.)

In case you haven't seen them, most of the commercials can be found at CBS SportsLine.

Your weekly dose of Jack Bauer

Anybody even suspect that this week won't be another disappointment?  I was talking to a friend last night, and we agreed that 24 jumped the shark with that drug season (3 I think.... they all blur....) and redeemed itself with Season 5, but that this season is riding Fonzie's motorcycle on a collision course with the shark tank.

Whatta YOU think?

Barenaked YouTube Fans

The latest BNL video is out, and it pays homage to all of your favorite YouTube vids, from Diet Coke and Mentos to the Numa Numa guy!

24 Night again....

This search is just wishful thinking.... Too bad I'm #2!

It's Amazing

Jen reminds that The Amazing Race is back, with an All-Star edition designed to erase the memories of the pathetic Family Edition season and two subsequent lackluster crap seasons.

So far?  Not bad.  I was super happy to see Charla and Mirna, Uchenna and Joyce, and Team Guido. 

My favorite team ever is sadly absent, the Clowns from Season 4 (Jon and Al).  In fact ALL of Season 4 is absent.  Too bad, as Season 4 was really my favorite personalities-wise, with the Chippendales, Whinies, SteveDave, the Goats, Weezer and Geezer, the Supremes, the Models, and Team Moleymoleymoleymoley (the virgins).

Ninjas, Wizards, and Bears, Oh My!

After a VERY long broken gif hiatus, Boromir and the Ninja Wizards is back online!

Woot!

h/t Michael Williams

Mr. Humphries, no longer free

John Inman, best known as the ambiguously gay Mr. Humphries on the BBC series Are You Being Served? has passed away.

Actor John Inman,  died aged 71 on Thursday.

Inman, who later became a pantomime regular, was one of the sitcom's most memorable cast members and his catchphrase "I'm free" became part of popular culture.

In 1976, he was voted "Funniest Man On Television" by readers of TV Times magazine and was also named BBC TV's "Personality Of The Year."

He died at St Mary's Hospital in London after having been ill for some time, his manager Phil Dale said in a statement.

"John, through his character Mr Humphries of Are You Being Served? was known and loved throughout the world," Dale said.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Humphries. You were always my favorite.

I agree with Cobb

This IS the best hip hop cover since Gin N Juice...

This guy rocks. Here's the band's website.

h/t Cobb. While you're there click through for some of his very interesting thoughts on the mainstreaming of black culture.

The Best Monument

The best F**k YOU indeed. America as it should be: Bigger, Better, and more Bacon!

NSFW! Just to be clear.

I love Penn and Teller.

h/t my man Denny.

Tuesday TiVo dilemma

The TiVo records 2 things at a time, and we can't watch another channel when it records 2.

Tuesday at 9, however, is a WEALTH of good TV.  What's a girl to do?

House
DWS elimination show
Deadliest Catch (it's back!  YAY!)
Dog the Bounty Hunter

Thank God the cable companies re-run their primetime shows 3 or 4 hours later. DC and Dog each record at 1am Wednesday, while DWS and House record LIVE...

So I'll be seeing both of them tonight.

I've mentioned before how much I LURVE Deadliest Catch.  Don't ask why.  I just like watching these guys go out and try to beat Mother Nature and make BANK in 2 weeks.  Good for them.

Spring is definitely the BEST TV time.  YAY!

Keeping up with the Memers

Velocidude recently posted a cartoon short that was one of his favorites as a kid.

So I tried to find mine, but alas, it is NOT available on the web.  Ugh.

You see, I was always a Merrie Melodies gal.  Not so big on the Bugs Bunny and pals, but I loved the Mel Blanc shorts.  My all time favorite is a bit from 1953 called "A Sheep in the Deep" starring Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf, who many of you will recognize a an early version of Foghorn Leghorn's nemesis George P. Dog and Wile E. Coyote.

And to appease those of you who MUST have a video, my favorite of the modern Warner Bros. cartoons. Pinky and the Brain present "The Parts of the Brain:"

For the curious, this little ditty was actually part of my PhD thesis talk. No, really.

Bound and Gagged Tagged

The lovely Ken S hit me with this one:

Pick out ten favorite movies, then look them up at IMDb. In the overview at the top of each movie's page, there are "Plot Keywords," usually five of them. (Plus more, if you click the link.) Take the first five, and post them. Then the rest of us get to play movie buff and see if we can guess them.

1.Anachronistic/ Jewish Humor / Nazi / Actor Playing Multiple Roles / Nazis
(none of these has much to do with the film. Huh.)

2. Christmas/ Concert Scene/ Choreographer/ Choreography/ Dancer
(this is SO EASY)

3.Badminton/ Happy Birthday To You/ Money / Dungeon / Disney Animated Feature
(good luck!)

4. Moon/ Messiah/ Wilhelm Scream / Wuxia Fiction/ Alien Civilization
(yeah, WTF????)

5. Ex Nazi / Air Base / British / Eccentric / Doomsday Machine

6. Fortune / Dysfunctional Family / Quirky / Friendship / Party
(suckers... that's a hint BTW)

7. Dirty Cop / Dock / Criminal Mastermind / Burn Victim / Manipulation

8. Catholic Church / Catholic / Roman Catholic / Blues Music / Country Music

9. Female Killer / Honeymoon / Police / San Francisco California / Serial Killer

10. Multiple Murder / Sidekick / Blind / Sam Spade / Hercule Poirot

Two Bonus, because they didn't fit in the 10:

11. Severed Arm / British Film / Corporeal Mortification / Severed Leg / British

12. Hungry / Fantasy Life / Hardship / Stylized / Enchantment

Play along in the comments, and answers will be posted tomorrow.

As for tagging, well, I'm supposed to tag 10 people, so I'll tag
Zonker,
wRitersbLock,
Mrs. Who,
Teresa,
Aaron,
Beth C,
RSM,
Christina,
Sissy,
and Richmond.

Mostly because I want to know what your favorite movies are.

Yes, People. I do watch Ugly Betty.

Two of you so far have expressed that you never would have guessed that I watch Ugly Betty.

Yes, Dammit.  I do. I watch a lot of shows you wouldn't expect me to watch.

Here's my TiVo Season Pass List, in case you were wondering:
Around the Horn
PTI
Dallas SWAT
Detroit SWAT
KC SWAT
The First 48
Dog the Bounty Hunter
Intervention
Mythbusters
The Dresden Files
Psych
24
Top Chef
A-Team
Quincy, M.E.
Supernanny
Nanny 911
Poirot
Sherlock Holmes Mysteries
UNC Basketball
Ugly Betty
Project Runway
CSI: Las Vegas
Survivor
The Amazing Race
Mind of Mencia
House
Little People, Big World
South Park
Miami Ink
Pros vs. Joes
Top Design
Deadliest Catch
Dancing with the Stars
Shalom in the Home
The Riches
Planet Earth
Kyle XY
Painkiller Jane
After the Catch
The Universe
The Closer
Dr. G Medical Examiner
Match Game
Ice Road Truckers


Note: these are not in order of importance except ATH and PTI.  I get cranky if I don't get my ESPN.

For Ken S.

Thanks for my earworm.  Good thing I actually like it!

Will Rushdie go into hiding again?

With the author's name on the Birthday Honours List this year, British muslims are renewing their "jihad" on on author Salman Rushdie:

A Pakistani minister says Muslims would be right to carry out suicide attacks over author Salman Rushdie's knighthood.

Religious Affairs Minister Mohammed Ijaz ul Haq told the country's parliament: "The West is accusing Muslims of extremism and terrorism.

"If someone exploded a bomb on his body he would be right to do so unless the British government apologises and withdraws the 'Sir' title."

In Multan, effigies of the writer and the monarch have been burned by about 100 students carrying banners and chanting "Kill Him! Kill Him!"

Priceless!

This is most severely PG-13 (for BJ references)...

H/T the ever amusing and interesting Baldilocks

Robot Chicken

So there's this show on Cartoon Network that's part of adult swim, and hubby and I have been catching it occasionally, and laughing our asses off at it every time we run across it. But we had no idea what it was called...

Last night we finally found out it's called Robot Chicken.

If you grew up in the 80s and had way too many action figures, this show is for you.

Holy crap, it's funny. It's filthy, too.

As proof, I offer Robot Chicken: Star Wars:
(PG-13 for violence and some language)

Part I:

Part II:

Part III:

Her Dad would have been so proud....

Fresno's best export in the world of entertainment (NO, not K-Fed. As if) is about to hit the small screen full-time in the Grey's Anatomy spinoff series "Private Practice":

Broadway actress Audra McDonald is set to co-star in ABC's Grey's Anatomy spinoff, Private Practice, where she will replace Merrin Dungey.

The new medical drama centers on neonatal surgeon, Addison Forbes Montgomery (Kate Walsh), who moves to Los Angeles and joins the private medical practice of her once-married, newly divorced medical school friends, Naomi and Sam Bennett.

McDonald will play Naomi Bennett, a role played by Dungey in the two-hour "Grey's" episode that launched "Practice." (Sam Bennett is played by Taye Diggs.)

McDonald has won four Tony Awards, and was nominated for a fifth this year for her lead role in the Roundabout Theatre's revival of the musical "110 in the Shade."  She next appears in ABC's adaptation of the play "A Raisin in the Sun," reprising her role as Sean Combs' wife in the 2004 revival of Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 play about black identity.

An observation... and an apology

So tonight I have been watching Sunday's Concert for Diana, which we Tivoed, and I have seen about half of it. I was just watching Andrea Bocelli's performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Music of the Night, and I had a strange feeling about it. I mean on one hand, my goodness, the man's voice is amazing, and every note was a treasure.

On the other hand, it was a bit disconcerting to hear the words sung with an Italian-influenced accent. This is the third time I've seen this particular bit of the concert, and something had bothered me about it from the first few notes each time. Now I realize that it was the pronunciation of the words.

In that sense, I'd like to apologize to the gods of classical music everywhere for my pitiful American attempts at French, German, Latin, Italian, Russian, Spanish, and any other language I have attempted to sing in in my brief choral career. Considering the difference between Bocelli's amazing talent, and my pitiful voice, I can only imagine how awful my American-accented words must be in other languages, no matter how hard I try....

Here's Bocelli's Music of the Night:

and here is Sarah Brightman and Josh Groban, with All I Ask of You, for comparison:

I always get Bert

You think someone's trying to tell me something?

You Are Bert

Extremely serious and a little eccentric, people find you loveable - even if you don't love them! You are usually feeling: Logical - you rarely let your emotions rule you You are famous for: Being smart, a total neat freak, and maybe just a little evil How you life your life: With passion, even if your odd passions (like bottle caps and pigeons) are baffling to others

h/t Oscar the Grouch

For your weekend LOLZ

Ok. I can do that.

10

If you could only watch 10 currently in production TV shows, which would they be?

In no particular order:

House
Psych
The Dresden Files
Ugly Betty
Deadliest Catch
The First 48
Burn Notice
The Closer
Around the Horn
Pardon the Interruption

Stolen from Ith's LJ.

What about you?

FIREFLY'S ON!!!!!!

SciFi is showing a FIREFLY MARATHON!!!! until 3pm!

Yes, I own it.  But STILL.

And Flash Gordon starts tonight.

Top Ten WHAT?

Oh hell no.

John Hawkins at Right Wing News has a list of what he says are the top 10 South Park Episodes of all time.

He's wrong on all 10 counts.

Here's my top 10 SP eps of all time (in chronological order... #5 is my favorite):

1. Cartman Gets an Anal Probe:  The original.  Started the world of South Park on TV.

2. Chinpokomon: You have "vewwy lahge Amewican Penis" 'Nuff said.

3. Cartman Joins NAMBLA:  I never knew such a thing existed before this.

4. Scot Tenorman Must Die: Revenge is sweet.  Too sweet.
 
5. Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants:  Matt and Trey's masterpiece.  Summed up the feelings of an entire nation and introduced us to the now world famous "chicken lollipop".  Also my favorite.  EVAH.

6. All About the Mormons?: What a great refrain:  dum dum dum dum dum.....

7. Trapped in the Closet:  Tom Cruise is trapped in the closet!  Plus a send up of the Clams.  Perfect.

8. The Return of Chef:  Isaac Hayes quit over Trapped in the Closet.  In their usual manner, Matt and Trey let the world know what they felt about it....

9. Smug Alert!:  Perfect satire of limousine liberals, their pretensions, their Priuses, and their love of the smell of their own asses.

10. Make Love, Not Warcraft:  What can I say.  We all know these people.

Honorable Mentions: The Return of the King to the Two Towers, Chickenlover, Cripple Fight, and Go God Go (I and II)

You may not agree with all of my picks, but seriously, any list that doesn't include Smug Alert!, Osama, Trapped in the Closet, and/or Scot Tenorman isn't a list to be taken seriously.

h/t Frank J.

My Movies

Both my darling blogchild and the crew at Dean's World have been hashing out a list of movies you can see over and over again.

I have a few of those myself.  In our house they're called "Movies I can fall asleep to".

See I have this thing with movies.  If they get really predictable, or really embarrassing for the main character, I skip it.  Fast Forward, skip, turn off, you name it.  I won't sit through it.  Consequently, there are VERY FEW movies I can sit through more than once without skipping through, let alone enjoy over and over and over. 

The funny thing is, those movies somehow migrate to the bedroom.  I'm a slow-sleep insomniac, and (like everything else with me) contrary to the usual advice of removing distractions from the sleep zone (aka no TV in the bedroom), TV actually distracts my brain enough to let me fall asleep.  Especially things I've seen before.  So we have a rotating stash of movies that live in the DVD player in the bedroom and get pressed into service in conjunction with the 90 minute sleep setting on the TV just about every night.

So, without further ado, movies I can sleep to:

White Christmas
Blazing Saddles
Star Wars
Empire
Return of the Jedi
Fellowship of the Ring (either disk 1 or 2; but not Twin Towers.  I always want to skip the "Sam and Frodo" parts too much)
Return of the King (Disk 2 works better... less Sam and Frodo)
Kill Bill vol 1
Kill Bill vol 2
The Blues Brothers
South Park
Team America
A Christmas Story
Fiddler on the Roof
Disney's Robin Hood

I'm certain there are more, but these are the ones currently in the DVD case in the bedroom.

In which I do my Mike Teevee impression

As the new fall season of TeeVee unfolds, I find myself drawn back to network shows a bit more than in the past.  Cable shows will always own (and then break) my heart (DAMN YOU SCI-FI CHANNEL!!!), but this year's network offerings look to be a better group than most.

Of these new shows two were IMMEDIATE hits in our house: K-Ville and Chuck.  Each is already queued for a season pass on the TiVo.  Finally there's something good to watch on Monday other than Football and DWS.  Although I admit this week we watched ALL of the Padres/ Rockies play-in game, instead.  Good thing we have a dual tuner Tivo and 2 tv's.....  Hubby has also recently gotten into Shark, and has a season pass for that as well.

Cavemen was better than expected.  It plays more as a buddy comedy with gimmicky jokes than a gimmick comedy with buddy jokes.  We'll see how quickly the jokes get tired....

We're still on the fence about Cane.  The first episode was good, but the previews make it look like every episode will be: Alex loves his family, but they don't all love him; Alex faces a challenge; Alex bulldozes his way through; Alex must face repercussions of previous bulldozer incidents.  In which case, YAWN!

Tonight we get the new season of South Park, and the first episode of Pushing Daisies. I'm interested to see what the show will really look like.  Visually, the previews are like a mixture of Pleasantville and Big Fish, so I am interested to see how much of that carries through the whole episode.  If the show is good, so much the better.

Strangely enough, I'm very sad the summer TV season is over. As much as I love House and Betty and DWS, the summer shows were so much more interesting and so much more watchable than regular October to May network TV.  Psych, Dresden, The Closer, Burn Notice, and Painkiller Jane were weekly appointments for us, and some of the best TV I've seen in years, even if the folks at SciFi got cancel happy on us (see note above re: Sci Fi).  Oh well, if nothing else it's good they're all on in the summer: the TiVo would be SWAMPED otherwise, and it would take me MONTHS to catch up!

Survivor got its season pass yanked: predictable, stupid, filthy.  When TAR comes back, then I'll watch reality TV on CBS.  There's a REASON that TAR has won every "best reality show" Emmy since its inception.

Not surprisingly we've watched very few of the "returning" shows on the TiVo so far.  I am, of course, keeping up with DWS, usually on the same evening it airs.  And CSI we watched almost live.  I was terribly disappointed that they seem to have gone back to the "less-plot-more-artistic-long-camera-shots" method and are now adding indie rock for crap ass montages.  Look, we wanted to see them get Sara out from under the car.  We wanted some kind of master plan from the arch criminal.  We got neither, just a drunk pirate wandering in the desert with NO COMMON SENSE about how to be found.  And she was carrying a mirror!  Does she not know to flash with it?  I mean, she COULD NOT have walked so far from the crash that she didn't hear that helicopter Greg was flying around in.  You get up on high ground, and flash with the mirror, dumbass.  You don't collapse 3 feet from the roadside because you wandered instead of conserving your energy and trying to stay cool during the day!  Wander at night.  Moron.  CSI Vegas is getting to be as dumb as CSI Horatio.

Yes you read that right.

Ok, well, the cold medicine and returned-camera high are wearing off, so it's nappy nap time for me.  See you later.

Friday Nonsense

So last night we saw this week's South Park.  Every imaginary or animated character you can think of shows up, and more you didn't previously know.  Hubby and I ran it over and over and over, literally squealing at each new character that came on the screen.

So for your viewing pleasure, here's Imaginationland parts I-III (the usual South Park language and content warnings apply)....

Some interesting thoughts on terrorism, too, no?

FrankJ reminded me

I'd pay to see this film...

Robot Chicken is just an ass-kicking show. If you don't watch it, you should. If you don't get Cartoon Network you can watch episodes on the web!

It's Amazing!

CBS moved the start date of Amazing Race 12 up to November 4! And today they released the team information for the new season. I already KNOW I'll be rooting for Nicolas and Donald, and we'll have to wait for the season premiere to see who else we'll love and love to hate!

Captain Picard Cat is not amused.....

For the TNG fans out there:

Do you have "The Knack"?

It's not just engineers....

Nice to know I'm not alone on a Bad Day

I've never thought of photocopying my monitor.... but I can so relate to beating the pencil thrower.

h/t Contagion

and as a bonus, because I can't resist a good Milton moment, "I believe you have my stapler.":

I can has 24?

See what the writer's strike has wrought, this season on 24....

Ralphie Rocks!

TBS set records with this year's "A Christmas Story" Marathon:

The marathon scored its best-ever average delivery in total viewers (2.8 million) as well as in such key demos as adults 18-34 (775,000), adults 18-49 (1.6 million) and adults 25-54 (1.5 million), according to Nielsen Media Research.

For the marathon's entire 24-hour run, TBS ranked as the No. 1 ad-supported cable network in 18-34, 18-49, 25-54 and total viewers. (Ad-supported networks include most basic cable outlets with a few exceptions like Disney Channel.)

During the marathon, the most-watched airing of "Christmas" in total viewers was the first telecast (8 p.m. December 24), which averaged 4.4 million viewers. The 10 p.m. telecast that followed was the most-watched among 18-34 (1.2 million), 18-49 (2.2 million) and 25-54 (2.1 million).

The 10 p.m. showing also beat all broadcast programming on Christmas Eve (8 p.m.-midnight) in the 18-34 demo.

One line

There's a thin line between order and chaos...

h/t Denny

Calling all Project Runway Fans!

Today's the big day, the Project Runway Show in the BIG tent at Bryant Park!

If you're up to date with this week's episode you have nothing to fear from the news from Fashion Week!

All 5 remaining Designers showed a collection!

As expected I am deep in smit** with Chris March's collection, although I suspect Christian will be the winner.....

Pictures are at Blogging Project Runway:
Christian
Rami
Sweet P
Chris
Jillian

** bonus points if you pick up the movie reference here...

Jimmy + Ben sitting in a tree.....

First we had Sarah Silverman f***ing Matt Damon....

And then Jimmy Kimmel and Ben Affleck.....

But now, everyone who didn't get to be in the video feels bad....

"From the minute Sarah's video with Matt played, revenge has been percolating in Jimmy's mind," says Jill Leiderman, the show's executive producer. "The Friday morning after it aired, Jimmy came in and said 'I need Ben Affleck."'

Affleck's consent lead to Harrison Ford's involvement -- he was a fan of Silverman and Damon's video, apparently -- which then lead to Brad Pitt's cameo as the delivery guy who presents Affleck and Kimmel with a cake celebrating their love.

Head music booker Scott Igoe said that once Pitt was on board, he reached out to the musicians who had appeared previously on the show and had proven themselves to be good sports. Within 24 hours, he had the Maddens, Gray and Wentz on board -- and had really ticked off Ashlee Simpson, who wanted to participate but was unable to because she was on tour, he says.

"Basically, we devised the list: 'Who has been on the show in the past that we really like?"' Igoe says.

The music for the song was written by Kimmel's bandleader Cleto Escobedo, with the lyrics devised by Kimmel, Kimmel's brother, John, and the show's writing staff. The video was filmed in two days at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, and at nearby Henson Studios, site of the "We Are the World" session.

"Half the e-mails I've gotten the day after have been from publicists so disappointed that their clients weren't in it," Igoe says, mentioning Faith Hill, Tim McGraw and Paul McCartney.

Whether the song will be released as an official download is up to ABC, Leiderman says, but she promises they'll make the appropriate inquiries to see if they can get a single put out.

Igoe, meanwhile, has his sight set on a bling-ier outcome. "Hey, if 'D--k in a Box' can win an Emmy, why can't we?" he asks.

And of course, all this was just an excuse to post this:

I'll be sharing this with my students tomorrow.

Hey you there, SHUT UP!

"Dude, I saw that coming a mile away..."

Karma at work.
Wanna-Be murderer jihadists planting an IED without sufficient training, as captured by a US AC-130.

h/t Richmond

Heaven is a funnier place tonight

Rest in peace, Harvey Korman.

Harvey Korman, an Emmy-winning comedic actor best known for playing the self-described "luminous second banana" for a decade on television's "The Carol Burnett Show" and for starring in such Mel Brooks films as "Blazing Saddles," has died. He was 81.

Korman, who had undergone several major operations, died Thursday at UCLA Medical Center of complications from an abdominal aortic aneurysm that ruptured four months ago...

...With a knack for physical humor and oddball accents, Korman was a master sketch comic who did his best-known work on Burnett's variety show beginning in 1967 in an ensemble that included Tim Conway.

"It's a 45-year friendship," Conway said. "It was a great ride; we worked together probably 30 years, plus the Burnett show, which was about as good as it gets."

Brooks called Korman "a major, major talent, and he could have very easily have done Shakespearean drama. That's how gifted and talented Harvey was. . . I loved working with him."

Conway said Korman had "a complete understanding of comedy and comedy timing."

Cotillion Sister Makes a Difference

Jane Novak, who some of you know from her own blog, Armies of Liberation, and also from her frequent postings at My Pet Jawa, was on Fox and Friends this morning talking about her efforts to work for regime change in Yemen. Nice Deb beat me to the video editing and posted Jane's interview on YouTube, so check it out (below) and then go sign the petition! Learn more about Yemen and more reformers in the Middle East here. Finally, tell Fox how happy you are that they highlight these issues and talk to bloggers! Leave a comment here for FoxNews' Alisyn Camerota (who Jane tells me is very, very nice!)

Summer officially begins tonight

With the premiere of the first of our Summer "Must Watch" TV. It's not just new to me, it's NEW.

Burn Notice premieres 10pm tonight. Not only does this show kick ass, it features Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell. JD rocks. I've been a fan since his turn as Jarod's scary psychopath brother Kyle on my favorite show of all time: The Pretender. Bruce Campbell, what can I say. He's the perfect semi-drunk sidekick. If you haven't seen it, you're missing out

We've already been watching summer TV (Celebrity Family Feud, Shear Genius, etc.), including the first actual show of the summer, In Plain Sight. Which kicks ass, BTW. You should make time for it, 10 pm Sunday, USA Network.

But tonight marks the return of what has come to be known as busy season for the TiVo. The rest of our shows will be back over the next week or so, and we can't wait. Over the next week we get back Psych, Project Runway, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and the Closer as well.

Summer Must-See on our TiVo:

Deadliest Catch
After the Catch
Mind of Mencia
Intervention
Dog the Bounty Hunter
In Plain Sight
Burn Notice
Psych
The Closer
The First 48
Wipeout
Celebrity Circus
Celebrity Family Feud
Project Runway
Shear Genius

Funny how most of our shows are on USA, Bravo, A&E, and Discovery. Hmmmm.

Dr. Horrible has arrived! - UPDATED!

Joss Whedon's latest project, Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog has finally arrived! The miniseries in three acts is being released this week.

Act I is available today, Act II will be released on July 17 and Act III on July 19.

But hurry, it all goes away on July 20!

Click over, turn up the speakers and enjoy!

Update: Also, now you can find a super cool Dr. Horrible button in the left sidebar below my Yahoo! Avatar! There are lots of different sized buttons and other widgets on the Dr. Horrible site, just scroll down and click the "get some resources" button. And be sure to read the EVIL Master Plan as well!

My brief review: It's Flash Gordon meets Little Shop of Horrors with Firefly sensibility. Perfect combo.

Forest for the trees (and some TV notes)

It was a busy weekend at the Casa de CTG. For the first weekend in about a month it was cool enough to work outside, and we were actually IN TOWN to get things done.

Despite the fact that GMT is home for the summer, the yard has been getting away from us shamefully. It has just been too hot to work in the yard for long periods, so the list of things to be done has far outpaced the the things we can GET done. Add to that a tree that decided to DIE in the middle of the yard, and well, it was starting to look like there were a few dead cars arriving to be parked on the lawn in a week or so.

Finally this weekend we were able to tackle some big projects. First up was the dead tree. Our lovely plum tree just turned brown and withered. We'd known it was sick, with some disease that didn't affect the other fruit trees in the yard, or the neighbors yard. But then it just up and died. So we took it down before it fell and killed someone.

Hubby clipped off all of the small limbs and branches with pruning shears and then we borrowed a friend's chainsaw and chopped it down a piece at time into a rather cheerful looking pile of firewood.

When Hubby got to the stump, the reason for the tree's downfall became immediately clear: Termites had infested the base of the tree and killed it from the inside out. Of course, we sprayed the stump with bug spray and threw the termite pieces in the trash. They live in the soil in Pasadena, I know, but the fewer the better is my motto when it comes to Termites.

When the plum tree was done, we moved the operation to the front yard, and using our awesome pole trimmer and tree saw, we took out all of the lower branches on the nasty tree that shades our driveway (and drops leaves and makes the car sticky from its secretions), mostly because the branches were likely the cause of our cable having loose connections, and because the branches were beginning to brush the roof. Yeah, not good. I've noticed these trees all over Pasadena, and it seems to me that most people who park under then DO NOT experience sticky, leafy car like we do, and I realized, most of the other trees are higher above the cars, so hopefully the trim will help with that, too.

Then, later last night we went over to some other friends' house and picked up their mini-whisper-chipper. This should allow us to get rid of most of the tree waste by making it into some lovely mulch. YAY!

I am totally exhausted.

Also from this weekend, it seems we stopped watching House entirely about the time we went into escrow on the house. Regular lurkers will know that was well over a season ago, strike or no strike. So this weekend we picked up where we left off, and have watched 9 episodes or so, which brings us up to just about the last pre-strike episode. It's nice to have all that TiVo space back, too. Just 12 to go. I expect we'll get through them in the next couple of days. Then we have a whole season of Ugly Betty to get through. As well as a whole slate of summer shows.

Speaking of summer shows, we were both very impressed with A&E's The Cleaner, starring Benjamin Bratt. Despite a few cheesy moments (including a Pulp Fiction-esque heroin rescue and a very amateurly foreshadowed suicide), it was gripping and we're looking forward to the second episode on Tuesday.

Also, our all-time favorite, Psych, is back on USA. This season started off with what I consider to be just a "meh" episode, despite the much ballyhooed arrival of Shawn's Mom: Cybill Shepherd. She was actually excellent, and seemed to fit right into the cast. The plot was MORE than a tad contrived, with Shawn resorting to fraud and blackmail to keep Gus's "dayjob" from forcing him out of the agency. Not his best work, and certainly not the best script of the show. Surprisingly adorable: Henry getting all mushy about his ex and Lassiter crying on the therapy couch after boasting to Jules that he was kicking a$$. Looking forward to a much better season once the writers get over their long winter break.

And a final thought on TV: All-time Foodie fave Ted Allen returns to weekly TV with a new show on Food Network starting next Tuesday (7/29). It's called "Food Detectives" and looks to be the gay love child of Alton Brown's Good Eats and MythBusters. Even if the concept wasn't so cool, I'd be all over this show. How can you not love the man who once advocated that bacon should be its own food group, and later described it as the "best two words in food: Ba. Con."?

I finally figured it out!

Happy Fun Ball is made of Wonderflonium. That's why you ahouldn't bounce it!

RIP, Randy Pausch

The "last lecture" Professor has gone. He passed away this morning at age 47 from the Pancreatic cancer he fought so well and so long. I hope his sons come to understand how much their father's grace and courage meant to so many people.

I can only hope my final lecture teaches half so much.

Below is the entire lecture, all hour and 16 minutes of it.

The Horrible Childhood of Dr. Horrible

Recently discovered video below the jump!

In my quest to amuse myself, I found this

Now this is an EFFECTIVE political commercial!

Because I continue to endeavor to amuse myself

And because dook sucks:

It's articles like this that prove the Onion's writers have better journalism skills than the MSM's

In Today's Onion:

EPA Shuts Down Local Ghost-Entrapment Business

NEW YORK --Citing unsafe practices and potential toxic contamination, the Environmental Protection Agency shut down a small ghost- entrapment operation in downtown Manhattan today, and had four of the business' spectral-containment specialists arrested in the process.

According to EPA agent Walter Peck, employees of the company ”located in an old fire station in the Tribeca neighborhood of New York” had repeatedly refused to grant him access to their storage facility, which posed a health hazard to the surrounding community.

"The facility in question unlawfully used public utilities for the purpose of non-sanctioned waste-handling, and was in direct violation of the Environmental Protection Act," Peck said. "Additionally, this company possessed several unlicensed portable nuclear accelerators that were frequently discharged within mere feet of civilians."

Some who witnessed the arrests felt that Peck had launched a personal crusade against the business, possibly due to a previous verbal altercation with one of the ghost-removal professionals, former parapsychology research professor Dr. Peter Venkman.

"It definitely seemed as though Agent Peck had an ax to grind," said Consolidated Edison technician Brian Holmes, who was ordered by Peck to turn off the containment system located in the basement of the company's headquarters. "I had never seen anything even resembling that type of equipment before. I was extremely hesitant to shut it down, but I didn't want to lose my job."

Though its incarcerated employees were unavailable for comment, the company released a statement denying any wrongdoing. The statement also repudiated claims that those associated with the spectral-entrapment operation were afraid of any individual ghost, and went on to say that the act of capturing said ghosts simply made them "feel good."

The Alfred Smith Dinner Roasts

If the whole campaign was just a giant roast, it would be no contest.

And maybe we wouldn't get so tired of election years.....This is frigging hilarious. McCain brought down the house, and Obama was a hoot, too, though he was clearly less comfortable with the comedy.

John McCain:
Part 1:

Part 2:

Barack Obama:
Part 1: