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Hello everyone,

Wow. I'm bad at this. But I'm gonna try. Try harder, anyway.

Saw the new Prison Break last week (still haven't seen Gossip Girl or K-Ville) and I liked it. I think they'll definitely get a whole season out of this idea. Especially if Michael Scofield (what's that guy's name again? I'm far too lazy to open a new tab and Google that...) keeps dragging his speech out as he has for the past two seasons. That guy is always out of breath. And I think he taught Linc how to do it over the summer. Sweet. I love William Fichtner. That guy can turn from cool to creepy (creepiest, actually) on a dime. I'm glad to see him finally catch a break.

Other stuff I'm hyped on right now:

Billy Idol - Storytellers
There's a new Dashboard album coming soon
Has anyone heard the new Manson album? I wanna get my hands on that gem.
Season premieres rolling out. Keep 'em coming. Especially, can't wait for "The Bionic Woman" and, then later, "Nip/Tuck."

Do this for me

I'm not sure what I'm going to say here. I don't have much. I'll come up with something soon. Thanks for sticking in there.

so that doesn't work

Okay, so my postings have become even less regular. I'm still trying to work on that. But it's not going very well. I wrote an e-mail to a friend of mine a while ago about an album I "rediscovered" and I thought I'd share.

Okay, so I know it's not super-cool (but when has that really ever stopped me - Spice Girls t-shirts anyone?) that at least a third of the music reviews I read (and therefore actually pay attention to) are in Blender, but every once in a while they are SOO right on it makes it worth it.

Every month they do a feature about an album that is so good it should be just part of the everyday musical lexicon but somehow, some way, it has been overlooked. A while back - about two months ago or so - said piece featured Neneh Cherry's first album - the one with "Buffalo Stance" - Raw Like Sushi. I've always thought "Buffalo Stance" had a little somethIng special in it and I think her follow-up album, "Homebrew," is one of my all-time favorite albums (though, to be fair, there's so many albums and artists and genres to pick from, it's hard to make those kinds of distinctions, right?).

Anyway, I downloaded most of the Raw Like Sushi album (it was harder to find than I would have thought but then again I don't look in too many places - eMusic may be in my near-immediate future [sidenote: I am now an eMusic member]) shortly after I read that piece and since then it's been in pretty heavy rotation in my iPod with me growing increasingly fond of it.

So, to make a short story long, that damn magazine has convinced me it's worth reading - again. And I've once again been reminded of how ridiculously hot Neneh Cherry was in the first place.

Get it? Got it? Good.

p.s. http://www.hiponline.com/artist/music/c/cherry_nenah/index.html

I'll try to be more regular these days - I swear

Okay, so I get my SiteMeter numbers every week and I know there are a few of you out there who are still checking in regularly. For that I'd like to thank you and reward you with a new post. So, here it is - you lucky few.

I'm gonna start where I almost always start: with TV.

As the 2005/2006 season winds down I have a short list of both highlights and low-lights that I will now pass on to all of you.

I am still about a month and a half behind in television land so for me there's still plenty of TV left but for everyone else, this is what I think you should have been doing all year.

Highlights (network TV):

1. Prison Break/Lost - To everyone who said that scripted TV was dead, I say, in the immortal words of Bill the Cat, "Ptthbbbt!" These two shows single-handedly brought quality television back to the water cooler. Naturally, 24 did this as well but I don't watch any show that is impossible to get back into if you miss even one episode. This is also why the impending end of Alias means less than nothing to me.

2. Gilmore Girls - Perrenial favorite yes, but still high-quality television suitable for everyone (yes, mom, even you). The girls have been a bit off their games for a while this season but from what I've read that'll be changing even in the episodes I have recorded and have yet to watch. The series creators are taking a walk after this season (presumably to go create another show because, God forbid, someone who hasn't ever made a show get a shot at something new. I mean Carsey-Werner are still making shows and it seems as though every season someone's trying to lure Stephen Bochco back to work) but, also from what I've read, the series will be in good hands after they leave. Call me optimistic, but I'm not worried.

3. Veronica Mars - Ben Green calls this the BEST show on television and I think he's onto something there. Every once in a while I think I'm not into watching this and then I pop one into the VCR or hear that satisfying "bloop" from my TiVo and the next thing I know I'm pulled back in and have to watch like three episodes back-to-back. I mean, come on, it took me like half the season to even really figure out what the actual mystery this season was. Bus crash, I mean, obviously. But I just didn't figure out the fact that it was the search for the "whodunnit" that was the central theme. I think I was too distracted by either Steve Guttenberg or the Veronica/Logan push-pull romance. And what exactly is Charisma Carpenter's job here? I mean aside from filling out dresses (and un-dresses) to perfection.

4. How I Met Your Mother/Two and a Half Men - This back-to-back sitcom duo is the funniest hour on television in ages. Doogie Howser has his schtick down to science and I still can't figure out how come everyone isn't telling everyone else to "Suit up!" like every day. I get the most consistent laughs since Seinfeld from every episode of Two and a Half Men. I am constantly switching back and forth between thinking the genius of the show is Charlie Sheen or Jon Cryer (Go Duckie!) but either way I'm usually too busy busting a gut to care. And, squeaking in under the wire and rounding out Monday nights, The New Adventures of Old Christine has proven, at least to me, that the Seinfeld curse was nothing more than crummy shows. Julia Louise-Dreyfus is a total riot. Everyone else on this show is kinda bland but she holds it down anyway.

5. Bones - I've been a fan of Emily Deschanel's sister, Zooey, for ages but putting Emily together with David Boreanaz (Angel) was the smartest casting on the small screen in ages. The spark (it's been a long time since I've read TVGal at Zap2It.com and I wonder if she's come around to this yet). Every time I start to get bored with this show, it takes a surprising turn and draws me back into a new facet I wasn't even paying attention to earlier. And the "squints" are more than just background scenery in this smart show.


Low-lights (network TV):

1. Inexplicable (and unnecessarily long) breaks - Both Everwood and Prison Break were taken away from us for what seemed like forever. I mean, really, how is that supposed to help a show. Especially something like Everwood which with the coming CW (the combining of UPN and the WB) is already on shaky ground? Prison Break I'm back for and I've watched a couple of Everwood's since it came back but honestly this was not good programming.

2. Grey's Anatomy - I can't take credit for this but I can't remember where I read it so I can't actually give the credit either but I read somewhere about the protagonist fo the show that (probably more of a paraphrase than an actual quote but...) "Not since Ally McBeal has a character been this adept at making EVERYTHING that happens be all about her." And it's true. Izzy not withstanding this show is just plain, bland programming that has somehow caught the eye of America. And the soundtrack is about a year behind good television. If you like the music, watch The O.C. or just about any teen drama on the WB, you'll hear it all first.

3. Reality TV - Isn't this over yet? Survivor, nope. Biggest Loser, really? Those nanny shows or the ones where they trade spouses, are you kidding? And celebrity (and I use that term loosely) reality, I mean, come on, how do they know what's reality? And I save my most vitriolic rants for The Apprentice. Why on Earth is anyone watching the Donald? Seriously, someone tell me.

4. CSI/Law & Order - Now, I, like most people who watched TV in the mid- to late-90s, was a big fan of the original Law & Order series but this is just too much. Too, too much. And don't get me started on CSI. Any of them. Any at all. Like Emily Gilmore said a couple of seasons ago, "I guess I'm just not as interested in forensic science as the rest of America."

5. Living with Fran - It takes a lot for me to not be able to sit through something with Fran Drescher (yes, it's true. I will not apologize for it.) but this show stinks. Badly. Like my old Stan Smiths - and those were some STINKY shoes.

Best of the rest:

Pros Versus Joes on FX - Funny. Think you can take on a pro who's a bit past their prime? So did these guys. And they couldn't. Especially on a football field. Or really any field at all.

Monk - Yeah, it's still like Columbo with less coordination but it's like a little slice of genius in a cable wasteland. That and I love Traylor Howard.

The O.C. - For me, it's all about Summer. All. And then a little Nikki Reid.

Classic Concerts & Decades Live (VH-1 Classic)/Crossroads (CMT)/Austin City Limits (PBS)/SNL (NBC & E!) - TiVo has made it SOO easy to record and then transfer to another medium live music from television. With quality sound. LOVE IT!

Okay. There it is. I promise something a little different for next week.

Thanks everybody. Keep it real. Catch you on the flipside.

Let's just get started

Okay. Okay. So it's been like FOREVER since I've had a new blog. So I'm just gonna jump right in with a current "must" list (since they seem to be all the rage).

Things I'm crushing on RIGHT NOW.

1. TiVo. I love it. Best purchase I've ever made. All that TV without all the hassle of setting the VCR every day. Well sort of. Since the TiVo only replaced one of the three VCRs running in home. I TiVo regular (read: Prime Time) TV and I also just TiVo funny stuff that interests me, like I Spy (Bill Cosby, Robert Culp) and the old British series The Saint (Roger Moore, pre-James Bond) and Welcome Back, Kotter (do I really need to list this?). But I've also caught a lot of Batman cartoons, Spiderman cartoons, some Mucha Lucha and I'm getting sucked back into Made on MTV. And...it's got a DVD burner built in, so there's a few concerts (Billy Idol acoustic, Morrissey in England) and some old movies (Notorious, North By Northwest and The Asphalt Jungle) laying around now.

2. TV. Everyone knows I LOVE TV like a new puppy but right now I'm particularly enamored with Nip/Tuck, Prison Break, Surface, Bones, Gilmore Girls & Two and A Half Men. I really thought my interest in Nip/Tuck would wane a little this season, but no. It really hasn't. The show continues to shock me and with it's wild plot twists and seemingly out of nowhere story lines I'm still as enthralled as I was in the beginning. Must see TV indeed. Prison Break is just awesome. Equal parts suspenseful, creepy, brainy and intriguing. The thing I like best about Surface is that it deals with a "new" species and it doesn't automatically treat it as a monster. That and Lake Bell. Nice name too, no? My personal hero, TVGal, says she doesn't see the spark between David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel but I think she's kinda nuts anyway. In a good way though. And (nice segue here...wait for it) so is the show. The Gilmore Girls has brought me back after last seasons lackluster-y-ness (although surprising and shocking season cliffhangers). Still the best writing on TV. I've been under the impression that Two and A Half Men is guy's TV but really I think it's just the funniest thing on TV. Naturally, I have a soft spot for '80s stars (Patrick Dempsey not-with-standing) so I'm gonna obviously be into something with John Cryer (and I'm sure everyone remembers Charlie Sheen as the bad boy in the police station with Jeannie in Ferris Bueller's Day Off but that's not enough of a qualification for me and also Charlie's maid on the show is the pizza place owner in Mystic Pizza (I'll learn her name soon, I promise) and if you know me, you know how I love that movie too). This show is full of physical humor but it's really at it's funniest when it revels in sibling rivalry. I'm so happy for Chuck Lorre again.

3. Something Corporate. And a lot of the less screamo emo but not quite as whiny as Bright Eyes. People all around me have been pointing out that I seem lost since I appear to have no musical direction these days. There's no genre pulling me in with any kind of force. I'm definitely digging on emo though but without much direction. Guidance anyone? I'm liking EVERYTHING Something Corporate, about two-thirds of Dashboard Confessional (the slower stuff) and stuff like Taking Back Sunday's "Cute without the E" and Matt Nathanson's "Church Clothes."

4. My iPod. There's something new that I love about it nearly every day. This is the best toy I've bought in ages. And keep in mind I just bought TiVo too. I went on a trip a while ago and while my traveling music used to take up about half of my backpack, this time it all fit in my pocket. With iTrip (or the Monster radio transmitter thing) I can listen to it in my car. I just also figured out it works with my little tape adapter. I'm loving it. All that music in such a tiny package. You can tell how happy I am. I'm sure of it.

5. Winter is almost here. It's supposed to start snowing tomorrow and keep snowing right through Saturday. Okay, so it's Friday night and it didn't really snow today but today's paper had a sweet picture of skiing at the River so Jill and I are planning to head up Sunday morning. And then Dark Star Orchestra on Sunday night. That should be one heck of a day.

Okay, there we go. Let's hope it doesn't take me 4 months to post again.

Back to the Machine

Okay. So, it's been a while since I've done any blogging and, with the new TV season about to kick off, I thought it was about time to start again.

I spent the long weekend catching up with a lot of summer TV shows (Rescue Me, The 4400, The Inside and a few reruns I missed during the regular season) and I also saw several movies.

Let's start with the movies.

First I saw The Skeleton Key. Kate Hudson is a hottie. The movies HooDoo roots were very cool. The Louisiana bajou (specifically around New Orleans which I imagine looks a LOT different these days for obvious reasons) is creepy enough to begin with without putting all the bad juju on it but while the plot was predictable and the I saw a lot of the "twists" coming ahead of time, the movie made me jump - a few times. I know, I know, it wasn't really that scary but remember, I'm a sissy. All in all, not too bad but lacking in true creativity. It's hard to take a horror movie seriously when all the people make such bad (read: cliche) decisions. Fairly tense though. I'll give it a C+.

Next up was Shaun of the Dead (on DVD). I'd read only good things about this movie. And despite a complete dearth of recognizable actors (aside from the always a bit odd Bill Nighy), this movie was very watchable. The dialogue was decidedly British - but then again it was in England and very, very funny. Low-budget but thoroughly enjoyable. A-

Then it was on to The Transporter 2. I've been looking forward to this movie since I saw the trailer for it a few months ago (and it was pretty nice to me on HSX as well). I loved the first one, with Jason Statham karate-chopping his way through the bad guys like some kind of low-key Jet Li but, honestly, this one was a bit hokey. Several times, people in the audience (me included) let out groans of disbelief as he pulled off suspension-of-disbelief stretching stunts. But, on the other hand, there aren't too many movies that feature the kind of ass-kicking showcased here and, frankly, I miss that - a LOT. So, despite it's over-the-top concept and a very bad (although this is not in any way a surprise given his recent performances) Matthew Modine (Amber Valetta though - so hot), I'm going to say that this is more like what I want to see in an action movie and give it a B.

To finish off the weekend, it was The 40 Year Old Virgin which, despite bad word of mouth from a few people, made me laugh out loud for at least the first hour +. Potty humor and bad pick-up lines made this movie a laugh riot. While I wouldn't say it's any kind of high cinema, I would say it's a quality comedy with enough of a heart to outshine any anti-Steve Carrell feelings you might harbor (and I harbor many - seriously, MANY). Still, B+ to A- (the A- would be mostly for Paul Rudd and Seth Rogan).

After Virgin, I got home in time to catch the majority of the Showtime movie (aired simultaneously on Lifetime (where I caught it)) Speak. Along the vein of like Thirteen, this movie shows a young girl dealing with date rape. Steve Zahn (who I love) and D.B. Sweeney (who I also dig a LOT) were pretty spot on as teacher and father, respectively, and the movies sparse dialogue was particularly effective. I'm a little enamored of girl-power movies (and TV shows) and this one showed that it's sometimes hard to be as brave as we'd all like to think we are. Let's just go ahead and give this one an A.

More later. Mostly TV for a while though.