odds and ends

odds and ends

• FX has a new show, wilfred, about a guy (elijah wood) who talks to / consults with his neighbor's dog about life...while trying to flirt his way into the neighbor's eye, fairly disasterously. i've seen only one episode, but it was very, very good. looking forward to more.
  
• my haircutterbarberstylistwhatdoyoucallhim was complaining to me yesterday (not whining) about how he's having to assume more and more of the business of his shop, and will be cutting down on the number of clients he works with directly. he says i'm on his keep list, but will be weeding off those who don't tip well enough. he then gave me examples of good tippers: guys who come in and hand over $40 for a $23 cut (with no shampoo), or pay him $50 for full service.
  me, i give the guy a $5 tip and think i'm being generous.
  this sort of complaining makes me think i might go elsewhere.
  
• i used the phrase, "this infuriates me" at work yesterday. to my boss. out loud. regarding something the boss asked me to do. age does have its perks.
  
• just popped a bag of popcorn in the breakroom microwave; a coworker was somewhat surprised, as he'd never considered that one could purchase microwave popcorn from the vending machine, and cook it in the same room. he's a fairly intelligent person, from what i know of him...so, i really don't know how this was a novel concept to him.
  
• last weekend was a tv marathon of the lord of the ring movies, of which, only the second i had seen in the theater; this weekend is a harry potter marathon, of which i've only seen the last three installments. how is it these two series have pretty much passed me by?
  
• don't forget, i'm on facebook, too.

yes, i think i can!

i'm not always the biggest fan of this show, but this particular routine is my favorite of all time. (unfortunately, it was good enough to get this couple in the bottom three this week.)

long time coming

i: ipad

i'm not the guy who stands in line waiting for the new apple device on day of release. but, i've been intrigued by the ipad since it came out (actually, since seeing a similar device on some TV sci-fi movie)...mainly because i spend several hours each day online, and the portability of blog reading is very appealing. it's why i got the iphone, though that device doesn't quite deliver on that promise of "it's the real internet".

so, the husband and i decided to get each other an ipad for our birthdays (which are a couple of weeks apart). they arrived last week, and it's been quite the honeymoon since it arrived.

the ipad makes up for most of the iphone's shortcomings: the screen is significantly larger, a big benefit for my old eyes. the keyboard is also larger, so i can actually type on it. i wouldn't attempt a novel on the ipad (not that i've ever attempted a novel ANYWHERE), but i can get through a blog post or email message with little bother. and it doesn't replace the phone or camera aspects of the iphone -- too big to carry for a camera, and no phone or text messaging on the ipad.

updating this alien's blog can be a tad cumbersome, mainly because i can't add music files to my divshare account using the ipad...this is the sort of activity for which i have to go back to my PC laptop. (photos aren't a problem, as long as the pic is already stored on the ipad, or available via URL link on the web.)


finally, a longtime complaint i have with itunes on these devices: we need the option to delete an itunes track directly from the iphone or ipad, and not be forced to wait until we get home and cable up to the laptop itunes. for what it's worth, my little adaptation for this task: if i come across a tune i want to delete, i'll "rate" it with a single star. next time i update my iphone, i sort all tunes by rating, and delete those with a single star.

1 girl 5 gays

anybody else watching i girl 5 gays? (mtv canada / logo tv in the US)

very charming host girl asks five 20-something guys "20 questions about love and sex". their answers, though often idealistic, are refreshingly honest (with the exception of a panelist or two who haven't given an honest answer in any episode they sat)...at least, as honest as one might expect from this crowd.

the panelists change from week to week (more or less frequently, perhaps...i wouldn't know as i've seen these probably out of chronological sequence), so the viewer doesn't get turned off by some of the more overbearing guys.

the show is rarely salacious, even when the questions get fairly intimate. and it's surprising how appealing some of the panelists become after watching for a few episodes...based entirely on their answers. (not surprisingly, some become even less attractive, based entirely on their answers.)

i only wonder how awful this show would be if it were produced here in the states, where tv today is only about yelling and getting drunk on tv. it would be interesting, though, to try a panel of older, experienced gays, who could speak from experience...not "would you ever", but "have you ever".

watching big love

HBO's big love started out as an amusement and little more. the characters were somewhat charming, all the mormonspeak, though initially jabbing my eardrums with repressedmemoryhorror, became cute and endearing.

didn't i love watching margene smile whenever someone tossed a little compliment her way? didn't i laugh when we found out just-out-of-the-compound nicolette ran up thousands thousands in credit? didn't i relate with so much of what barb related of her growing up in that mormon mentality? and didn't bill remind me of so many men, too full of the promise of priesthood that they didn't realize what foolish things they pronounced?

i did.

but now, this final season, we suddenly see bill as a polygamy-proud state senator, with his family and associates being hunted down (literally) all around him, and the conflicts with everything and everyone i used to think made quirky family drama now just seem trivial, because this season, this all got heavy and intense and terrifying.

it's been sad watching lois (bill's mom) go the way of dementia (thanks a lot, bruce dern!), but it's all the more sweet when she has coherent moments.

and suddenly, i think i'm actually going to miss this show...and mary kay place couldn't have appeared often enough.

hurts - sunday

from the graham norton show. i hope these guys live (and record) forever.

watching the US version of SHAMELESS...yay, joan cusack is on TV again

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i hate tv

bravo has this not-project-runway show, the fashion show, running its second season right now. it's okay. it's fine, really...just no project runway (not just because tim gunn is absent, either).

tonight, though, tv made me want to give up watching competition shows forever. clearly, they select winners and losers, based entirely on how loud the viewers will scream at the tv in reaction to the ridiculous judgements.

i'm no designer, so what do i know? but when a "collection" is based on wool blankets your dad used to purchase from the army/navy surplus store, well, there's no rationale for calling that collection a winner.

but yeah. what do i know.

watching doc on TARGET, thinking I LOVE TARGET

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recent tv

what i've been watching recently...

undercover boss

what happened top this show? the first season was fun to watch, because they showed the heartwarming stories (single moms, college dropouts), AND the bad or cranky employees who likely got fired after the show was taped (hooters manager who skipped sexual harrassment training).

this year it's ONLY the heartwarming stories, so that angle has gotten predictable and tired. the CEO's are way, way too undeveloped to be able to train for an entry level position, oddly enough. and please stop with the CEOs testifying how their "faith" got him where he is today.

boring.

hoarders

this show really came up this season. yeah, we're still seeing pets buried alive under mountains of newspaper, screaming hillbilly moms who can't let go of an old butter dish, etc., but this year: scary! the season finale was about a guy who filled the gaps in his life with rats. 2,000 RATS...enough to force him out of his own house, to which he would return everyday to feed the swarms.

embarrassing to watch him choke out his grief and sorrow as his pets got hauled away. creepy to see the animal rescue workers dig through the walls to grab more rats. bizarre to see the therapist act as if this wasn't something all that unusual.

(well, the therapists all seem way too accommodating to their clients, but what do i know.)

i can't wait till next season...it's only getting better.

episodes

matt leblanc plays matt leblanc, famous tv actor landing a role in an imported british sitcom that neither he, nor the imported writers of the original, think he is good for.

the first episode was about the writers getting to LA and being all culture-shocked in the most cliche manner imaginable (it's sunny! houses are big! cars have no tops! celebrities live right next door!)

some potentially interesting side characters...but if the second episode of episode is this dull, i won't be hanging around for a third.

lie to me

watching as much of this series as netflix has available for streaming. it's okay-ish...the characters can't seem to decide if they're angry, eccentric, or whatever. but the little explanations of lie-face expressions give the show a little bit of twist to make it different from law & order or CSI or whatever.


top 3 of my list of favorite current tv:

community
modern family
30 rock


photo credit: http://smallscreenscoop.com/hoarders-rat-episode/312790/hoarders-rats-episode/

catching up

i'm seriously behind reporting all the movies and music and tv i've been consuming the past few weeks. so, with the end of the year popping up soon, let's get a few of these out of the way, shall we?

MOVIES

• harry potter and the deathly hallows: let it be known that i have only seen two other HP movies, and never read any of the books. with that out of the way, i liked deathly hallows enough, though i've come to understand from other reports that this one was somewhat slow and heavy on "character" rather than action. i didn't notice that.
  also, the elf guy? so much reminds me of our pet monster. really.
  
• burlesque: this one is taking a beating with the "critics", but i liked it. great moviemaking? not at all. was i expecting that? not at all. somehow, they made cher look like a football player, but otherwise, for a farmgirl-goes-to-hollywood story (quite literally), it was as much as i would have expected.
  why so little use of alan cumming, though?
  
• who is harry nilsson (and why is everybody talkin' about him?): i watched this one on netflix a couple of weeks ago, and it hasn't left my head, since. i've been a very casual fan of nilsson's since i was a little kid ("can't live" being the ultimate emo song, before it was destroyed by mariah carey), but never knew anything about him, personally. this documentary has plenty of archival footage and photos, and goes fairly deeply into his career ups and downs, his friendship with the beatles, and his own self-destruction.
  good overview of his music, as well. watch it, become a fan.

MUSIC

• mackintosh braun: can't say enough about this band, and the two albums i've been listening to non-stop for the past month. kinda electro-ambient, but more pop, and with vocals. great, great synth sounds...like cut copy, but dreamier, and without trying to be rock stars. and they're such nice fellas on facebook, too.
  might be a pick of the year.
  
• alphaville: catching rays on giant: okay, whatever that title means. the sound of the album is classic, classic, classic a'ville. no
  WTF surprises here, and that's just perfect. i haven't picked out my favorite tracks quite yet, but if i were to rate this with the other alphaville albums, i think it might be #2 or #3 for me...after afternoons in utopia, but ahead of, or tied with, salvation.
  i wasn't aware that marian gold (the only apparent permanent member of alphaville these days) was accused of being scientologist. in alphaville's homeland of germany, that's a fairly scandal-ridden charge. i wonder if that may have contributed to such a long time between these last two albums.
  
• bryan ferry: olympiai want to like it, but it's mostly more of the same. "heartbreak by numbers" is fairly gorgeous, though. maybe i'll crack open the album once again, give it another shot.

TV

• outsourced: not to be a negative nelly, but this show just isn't appealing. stupid cross-cultural setups that make no realistic sense. the first episode, one thinks of forgiving how racist the show is, because the characters might end up being endearing or whatever. by the fourth episode, it's time to throw a shoe at your tv and swear to never watch again.
  just awful. and to think we've been denied leslie nope in parks and recreation for this?
  (while i'm at it: couldn't hang onto the event, though the husband still watches. my breaking point: the first time the jetliner vanished above the president's reception. the effect for that was so bad, i just gave up on it right then and there. too bad...i like blair underwood.)
  
• the walking dead: how awesome is this show? zombie movies rarely (never?) actually frighten me, but the walkers in this show really stick in my head. if i watch this just before going to bed, i'm looking behind doors to make sure nobody blue is waiting to grab my face.
  it's kind of like LOST, in that we already have seen a party of "the others" come and go (maybe they'll be back), and as the husband noted last night, a "hatch" where the science is still happening against all odds. i hope this one continues to intrigue.
  
• community: still loving the show from last year, but i'm wondering how much "bigger" the show is going to allow itself to get? already this year, they've had an alien/zombie episode, an alice in wonderland ep, a lord of the flies (i guess) ep, and a claymation ep. for a sitcom, that's a lot of excessive ambition.
  the alien/zombie episode was pretty great, though. and troy and abed continue to be the most watchable couple-but-not-couple on tv.

"the big C"

you know what's interesting about laura linney and her new show, the big C?

nothing.

but you know what's funny about it?

nothing.

seriously. showtime is a premium channel. do something worthwhile.

an open letter to vern yip

hey vern,

now that the latest season of "HGTV design star" is over, can we talk?

we were your fans. we waited, breathless in anticipation, for an episode on "trading spaces" in which you'd appear with your orderly and symmetrical room designs that brought dignity and gorgeousness to the recipients home (especially as opposed to designers who "franked up" so many other rooms). your designs shone, really moved the entire show into a higher level.

your charitable nature came through on your show, "deserving design", where you found the best in your clients and played up on that, rewarding them for doing good.

along the way, we learned from you, like how squares bring in tradition and simplicity. learned about color choices. learned that a designer can be a real teacher, a coach.

and then comes "HGTV design star", a show that depressed viewers because of your cranky demeanor, your inability to say a good word, or to provide mentorship to up and coming designers who have committed no greater sin than trying to make good under the most ridiculously unworkable parameters.

vern, what happened? who told you that viewers wanted to watch you being a cranky grandpa? that viewers wanted to see you ridicule and demean those whom you should be encouraging and teaching? (and don't even get me started with the idea that a designer should be able to dress himself with shirt collars that don't transform you into a munchkin.)

hopefully, if there is such a thing as another season of "HGTV design star", you'll have some time to recall those qualities in yourself that made you such an engaging tv presence. and cast off the bitter and heartless creature you've become.

sincerely,

your optimistic one-time fans

conan

funny, because it could be true...

Conan O'Brien presents "The Legally Prohibited From Being Funny on Television Tour" -- Cold Open with Crowd from Dan Dome on Vimeo.

re TV

first, the new stuff:

• flash forward was cancelled. two episodes remain this year, and that's the end of that. i'm disappointed, because i really got into the premise, that the entire population of the world blacks out momentarily, except for a couple of people, during which they see a few seconds of their just-weeks-away future. how will they force that future "to come true", or prevent their perceived future from happening? i had a hard time watching joseph fiennes "act", but the inclusion of a few favorites from LOST (chah-lie, penny) as well as john ("the cho") cho, and some clever plot twists, made the show very watchable.
  
  
• community will continue on next year. hooray. it might be my tied-for-favorite show this year.
  
  
• modern family will also continue next year. hooray II...the other tied-for-favorite show this year.
  
  
• glee remains an enthusiastic viewing experience, even if the episode plots are so, so overdone now (yeah, someone's going to do away with the glee club; yeah, kurt's dad is kinda okay with the gay; yeah, this girl is dating that guy still). what i would like to see: a true musical episode -- they've come close -- where the characters play out their lives in song, as opposed to selecting a song for their weekly assignment that coincides with the moral to be learned in that episode.
  
  (note about musicals in general: why do they always have to be about performers, or people who dream of becoming performers? remember in the old days, when songs were part of the dialogue among characters, and not just "numbers" strategically placed to hold our attention?)

old stuff:

• LOST ends sunday night. this show, i'll miss it...it was engrossing, even during the season(s) where i couldn't figure out what the eff was going on, or keep track of the several new characters, and their place in the overall story. funny how a viewer comes to "care" so much about fictional characters. these characters, i'll miss them.
  
  
• so long, scrubs, you lost me at "med school". bye to better off ted, as well, which i didn't trust with the first episode or two, but thereafter became enamored.
  
  
• the office is still entirely watchable, as is parks and recreation, which finally doesn't look like the little sister of the office. 30 rock is forever hilarious.

Twin Peaks - MC Chris

this video starts out really irritating, but since it's twin peaks, just have to watch, right?

don't question senor chang

...or you'll get bit

very recent history

watching judge judy again: how is it that so many people use the phrase "i was currently [working, residing, whatever] at...".

*tries to do something currently in the past*

todays

today's dodged bullet: i was supposed to drive up to LA and back tomorrow for a 5-hour meeting...which would have meant 6 hours of driving, thus an 11-hour day that i would have to start at about 6:30 to ensure getting to the meeting in LA by 10:00 AM.

instead, i'll dial in and view the presentation over a webinar, all from the comfort of my own cubicle.

today's hooray for religion: michigan militia that decided that killing policemen was the way to push their agenda. remind me again what good has come of religion...because lately, i can't come up with anything.

today's playlist:

• devo - we're through being cool
  
• the killers - a dustland fairytale
  
• broken social scene - swimmers
  
• goldfrapp - believer
  
• stephen duffy - holes in my shoes
  
• alphaville - oh patti
  
• weezer - the girl got hot
  
• queen - fat bottomed girls
  
• giorgio moroder - chase
  
• empire of the sun - walking on a dream
  
• blondie - war child
  
• shout out louds - impossible
  
• rupaul - ladyboy
  
• adam ant - hell's eight acres
  
• jonsi - boylilikoi
  
• twin shadow - castles in the snow
  
• spoon - the mystery zone

queen - fat bottomed girls today's celebrity rumor: i am told that john cho (fast forward, star trek) refers to himself as, "the cho". i hope this is not true. and for the record: today's state: sleepy. very sleepy.

niecy

how can i watch niecy nash on dancing with the stars without watching kate gosselin's ugliness? even in fast-forward, i just don't know if i could stand it.

and when i say "ugliness" i'm not talking about physical appearance.

but really, who doesn't love niecy nash?