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Words for Wednesday

8 Nov

Some quick thoughts for today …

A Good Day to Be a Democrat

I find it a fun coincidence that right as the Democrats were washing the Republicans out of power, Mother Nature decided to sprinkle some rain and wash away the whole thing. It’s metaphorical, in a really obvious way. Personally, y’all know how I feel about being woken up early, and if George Bush was really gracious in defeat, he wouldn’t have been calling people to tell them as much at 7:15 a.m. this morning.

Vicious Circle

Many nights, as I’m walking home from work around 8 p.m., I ponder the eternal question: Am I working late because I have nothing to do, or do I have nothing to do because I am working late? And then, last night, I found more fuel for my fire. I left work around 6:15 to go vote, and when I got home, I had nothing to do but watch the returns come in on MSNBC. I tried to watch some of the shows I’ve recorded in the past week, but to be honest, week-old What About Brian? or Six Degrees, or even the Chevy Chase episode of Law & Order, just had no appeal. I guess the whole thing only served to remind me that I need a new hobby or two.

Losing Lost

Tonight is the last episode — new or otherwise — of Lost until February. Which means that IsLostARepeat.com will be stuck on “Yes” for a while, I’m guessing. Either way, just when it was getting good, now it’s being taken away. That sucks.

Still There for Me

Check out what I just found, still on the web from September 2003.

Seasons Change

17 Sep

It’s a big day for me: I finally have things to watch on TV again. I mean, sure, for a while there I was content spending my evenings with the Red Sox, but I haven’t watched a single game since the Yankees series a month ago (seriously), and my nights have been rather boring as I waited for the new TV season to begin. (Not that I didn’t have a life or anything. I’m just talking about my TV watching habits here.)

So what will I be watching this season? Here’s my week at a glance:

Monday: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip at 10

Tuesday: Nothing. It’s a night I can have a life

Wednesday: 30 Rock at 8:30, Lost at 9, and (if it’s good) The Nine at 10

Thursday: My Name Is Earl at 8, The Office at 8:30, Grey’s Anatomy at 9, and Ugly Betty at 10 (recorded from when it was on from 8–9) or Six Degrees — unless it’s really bad. This would be a terrible night to call me, by the way.

Friday and Saturday: Nothing. Nights I can have a life

Sunday: The Amazing Race at 8, Desperate Housewives at 9, and (if it’s good) Brothers & Sisters at 10

I cleared some space on my DVR yesterday just in case I don’t make it home in time for some of these shows, so I should be all ready. Let the TV season begin!

Weekend Winners and Losers

27 Aug

Winner: The Office, for winning the Emmy for Best Comedy Series, and My Name Is Earl, for winning awards for writing and directing
Loser: The rest of the show. Aside from Conan’s opening, it was a snooze.

Loser: Ari Gold
Winner: Jeremy Piven

Loser: The Red Sox. Still. They should just stop playing. I mean actually stop playing. It was painful last weekend, but now it’s just an agonizingly slow crawl to October.
Winner: Me, because I didn’t watch any of it

Winner: Saturday’s weather
Loser: Sunday’s weather

Winner: My eyes. I had an opthamologist appointment on Saturday and got some new glasses.
Loser: Rims. My new glasses have none.

Loser: Snakes on a Plane. Why isn’t anyone seeing this movie??
Winner: Everyone who did see Snakes on a Plane. I still say I’d pay to see it again.

Winner: The weekend. It was relaxing and good.
Loser: The weekend. Too short, as always.

What’s on My Mind

9 Aug

A few quick questions and observations … Continue reading →

Saturday Morning Battle Royale

4 Aug

Will it be Kelly Taylor or Felicity Porter?
Brandon Walsh or Ben Covington?
The Peach Pit or Epstein Bar?

These are the questions that occupy my mind now, since the good people at Comcast have added SoapNet to my cable lineup (no, I didn’t ask for it). As I’ve previously revealed, my Saturdays don’t begin until 12 noon every week because I sit on the couch watching Felicity reruns on the WE channel from 10 a.m. to 12. And now, with Beverly Hills, 90210 on SoapNet from 9 a.m. to 12, I’ve got a real problem.

Yes, I realize I’m male and straight and I’ve got much better things to do with my life. But these two shows are great guilty pleasures of mine, and to be totally honest — at the risk of total embarrassment — I’m quite excited about this addition to my Saturday morning plan. But what will I do? Please help me decide.

Which program should I watch?
Felicity
Beverly Hills, 90210
Neither. Get a life, dude
  
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Hell Hath No Fury

24 Jul

If you live in New York, Los Angeles, or Chicago, maybe you’ve seen a billboard like the one above.

According to today’s New York Times, it’s part of an elaborate promotion by Court TV to promote a new show called Parco P.I.

Anyway, it’s good stuff, and the blog that goes with it, That Girl Emily is definitely worth a read — even if it’s all fake (the discovery of the cheating spouse happens around July 12, so you have to click through the archives to find it).

There’s even a fake surveillance video of the cheating hubby.

Yes, it’s sort of disappointing that it’s not real, but check out the blog anyway. Someone is having a very good time keeping this going.

I’ll Console You, Addison

16 May

It seems all anyone can talk about today, or wants to talk about today, is the awesome Grey’s Anatomy finale last night. I don’t mind spending three hours watching one show over two nights when it’s as good as Grey’s was this week. And now it’s going to be an agonizingly long summer until the show returns with new episodes … on Thursday nights! YUCK! Whose lame-brained idea was that? It’s opposite the new Aaron Sorkin show, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, which is supposed to be incredible. Thank God for my dual-tuner DVR. I just hope it works.

Anyway, so Grey’s was really good — despite Katherine Heigel’s total over-acting. I mean, I can only imagine how many takes there were of that scene where she was bawling while lying next to Denny’s dead body. Otherwise, good stuff. And am I the only one out there who feels sorry for Addison Shepherd? She can run right to me if she needs consoling, now that Derek and Meredith seem to be on the road to another relationship. I’ve really come to like Addison this season, and I might spend at least some of the summer seeking out actress Kate Walsh‘s other work (even if that means watching Under the Tuscan Sun, the movie in which she apparently plays Sandra Oh’s lesbian girlfriend). And on a personal note, my family also had a dog named Doc, and two years ago we had to put him down, so that scene was a bit sad for me too.

It’s been a good week of finales so far. I stopped watching The West Wing a couple years ago, but I still got wistful and nostalgic while watching the finale on Sunday. And The Office was great on Thursday. Idol is on tonight, there are two more episodes left of Alias and Lost, The Amazing Race ends tomorrow, and even the finale of Desperate Housewives on Sunday looks good. (Yes, I watch a lot of TV. What else am I supposed to do when this rain just won’t stop?) Have I mentioned I hate the long summer break between new episodes of my favorite shows? Happy Summer …

Gimme Five (More Years), Katie

20 Apr

Thank God for Katie Couric. Were it not for her this morning, I would never have learned that today is National High Five Day. I’m sure gonna miss that Katie Couric when she leaves the Today show in May. Her cute, sophisticated perkiness wakes me up every day. I love to hang out with Katie and her boyfriend, Matt, and their children, Al and Ann, every morning from 7:30 to 8:30, or whatever times I turn on and off the TV. I sure do enjoy their company while I eat my breakfast. Meredith Viera has big shoes to fill. Bigger even than Star Jones’.

But anyway, today really is National High Five Day, as decreed by a bunch of University of Virginia students. (It’s always the third Thursday of April.) The mission of the day is simple: just give out as many high fives as possible. When you get on the subway, when you see your boss in the office, when you go for lunch, when you get home and see your spouse or roommate, etc. The guys’ MySpace page has a further explanation, and videos explaining the proper way to give a high five are really helpful. That’s all. It’s a simple holiday, simply celebrated.

I’ll leave you to it. Thanks again, Katie, for everything.

Big Story

3 Apr

If you’re like me, you watch Grey’s Anatomy on Sunday nights at 10p.m. But maybe you’re not like me, in which case you watch Big Love on HBO at that time. And in that case, you know Ginnifer Goodwin, who stars as Margene, one of Bill Paxton’s three wives. (She was also in Walk the Line and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!)

I had the chance to interview Ginnifer a couple months ago for Continental magazine and the article I wrote is now online. Just click here to read it. I also interviewed Ginnifer for Student Advantage Magazine and that article will be online in a couple weeks. Continue reading →

Starstruck in Waltham

3 Apr

Headed over to the ole U last night for the award ceremony of the annual SunDeis film festival. Mostly, it was because Jesse L. Martin and S. Epatha Merkerson were going to be there; she was being recognized as the “Entertainer of the Year,” and he was presenting the award to her. Given that I hadn’t seen a single film in the festival, the ceremony was hit and miss for me as far as entertainment value. There were the expected (and bad) Brokeback Mountain jokes, and other expected jokes, like when the music director was presenting an award and he kept getting “interrupted” by the orchestra. But some speeches were genuinely good, including the Best Actress winner, who made hysterical reference to Martin and Merkerson sitting right in front of the podium. Others ran the gamut from low-key student humble, to cocky “You’ll all be working for me soon” ego, which was a bit of a buzzkill, since some of these folks didn’t even go to Brandeis.

When it was Martin’s turn, he didn’t disappoint. The festival coordinator introduced him by saying what award he was there to present, but really, “how do you measure … measure a year?” And then Martin just riffed for five minutes on his good friend, talking about her unparalleled ability to curse, about her having been on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse (as Reba the mail lady), and about their car accident earlier in the day — making sure to show off that he was fine. Then Merkerson took the stage and the two became a classic comedy duo. There was a winking admission that she always brings her “brother” Jesse L. Martin with her because she only seems to get press coverage when he’s with her. And Merkerson also revealed that she initially thought she was getting an award from Barnard College, which is located on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. But she and Martin were excited to arrive in Boston and to have a white stretch limo waiting for them, courtesy of the festival. “I said to Jesse, ‘We’re going to the prom!'” she recalled. She did her S. Epatha Merkerson thing, which we all saw when she won the Golden Globe, the SAG award, and the Emmy, only here it was looser and more profane, and just plain funny. Clearly, both felt like this was the most random thing they’d done in a long time. I’m sure there’ll be a video clip on the SunDeis web site soon.

Also in attendance were Anita Hill (left), now a Brandeis professor, who acted as official ambassador for the university before the show began, and lifetime achievement award recipients Celeste Holm (Gentleman’s Agreement, above) and Margaret O’Brien (Meet Me in St. Louis). For a student film festival in Waltham, Mass., it was an impressive evening.

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