Lost fan PSA: ABC is re-airing Wednesday’s trippy, bizarre, awesome episode tomorrow (Saturday) at 8 p.m. Set your TiVo.
(it’s news so good that even Locke is smiling.)
And after you watch, head on over to the official web site of The Hanso Foundation. Be sure to go to the Active Projects section and click on the “hidden” link below the list — it only appears when you move your mouse over it.
Good stuff, and essential reading after this week’s episode.
It’s been three days since I’ve posted something here, but nothing’s been all that posting-worthy, so here are a couple of days’ worth of random thoughts …
* I stayed in the office late on Friday night (until 9 p.m.), mostly to square some stuff away, clean up my desk, and get organized after a couple of crazy days. One facet of getting organized was coming up with a to-do list for Monday. Of course, by doing that, I now know all the work I have waiting for me. Talk about a catch-22. So maybe getting organized wasn’t such a good idea …
* Saturday was one of those impulsive shopping days at Newbury Comics. Walked in to get a free pint glass and the new Maroon 5 live CD, walked out a half hour later with those things and five other CDs. I shouldn’t tell you which ones, but maybe by confessing it’ll make me feel better: The 40-Year-Old Virgin soundtrack; Genius and Friends, a sub-par “sequel” to Ray Charles’ Genius Loves Company; All-Time Top 100 TV Themes, a 2-CD set of stuff from Six Feet Under to The Lone Ranger; the Desperate Housewives soundtrack (no comments, please); and the Elizabethtown soundtrack.
* Went to an ice cream tasting get-together for Marie’s birthday on Sunday. We all had to bring a favorite flavor so of course, I brought Hydrox (i.e.: Cookies and Cream) from Rancatore’s. (mmmm…Ranc’s.) But when tasted alongside Ben & Jerry’s Fossil Fuel or Caramel Sutra, somehow the Hydrox just couldn’t compare. Does Ben & Jerry’s make bad flavors? Because I’ve never had one …
* Got caught up on some TV this weekend. Thought the Martha Stewart version of The Apprentice wasn’t all that bad. I’ll probably continue to watch it, since it comes on right before Lost and doesn’t compete with anything else. Everybody Hates Chris, on the other hand, was not as good as the hype would imply. (Good thing, since it’s on opposite Alias and The OC.) Didn’t really enjoy How I Met Your Mother either. Neil Patrick Harris was just trying too hard, and the show seemed like it couldn’t sustain itself for very long unless new women are introduced every week. Wanted to get back into Prison Break, but I’m three episodes behind now (four including the one that’ll be on tomorrow), so at this point, I think I just have to call it and say I won’t be watching that show. I know it’s great, but I can’t watch ’em all. The second episode of Reunion was alright. Nothing great, but not awful either. I feel like by not telling you who’s dead yet, the show is just being an annoying tease and frankly, I don’t like any of the characters enough to care. It is, however, fun to figure out just what Bedford, NY the show is taking place in. Not the one I grew up in, that’s for sure.
* I don’t know about the rest of the country, but here in Boston — as I’m sure it does in New York — it feels like the baseball playoffs have already begun. If things remain this close, it’s going to be a long week. (And bummer I’m leaving town early for Rosh Hashannah.) My prediction? The Sox will end up 2 games ahead of the Yankees, who won’t make the playoffs. (Thank you, Cleveland.)
* One bad thing about Blogger is that it doesn’t allow you to track the traffic your blog is getting. (Or at least if it does, I don’t know how to do it.) But it seems like I have a lot of readers. And it seems like friends are telling old friends who I haven’t heard from in years to read the site. Case in point: got two emails from people last week who had heard about the blog from other people. Hadn’t heard from one of them in, oh, I don’t know, 14 years. Small world this Internet is …
* As much as I’ve tried, Laguna Beach has drawn me in. Big Time. And I tried to resist, really I did. But now I can sit and watch the same episodes over and over for hours. So here’s a PSA for any other straight male Laguna Beach fans (and I know I’m not the only one): go check out the new issue of Rolling Stone, the one with Evangeline Lilly on the cover. Turn to page 80. Nice.
* What happened to summer? All of a sudden it’s chilly again.
Phew! Maybe I am better off being in the office, where I’ll have plenty of work to keep me busy …
I hope you’ve seen some of the ads or the great reviews for My Name Is Earl. The show debuts tonight on NBC at 9pm. I saw the pilot episode a month and a half ago because I was lucky enough to interview Jason Lee for one of the magazines I work on, and it’s really funny.
I mean, just look at the guy! As Jason has said in multiple interviews, he looks like a porn star from the ’80s. Based on appearances alone, this is the funniest show on TV this season.
But there’s more to it than a sweet ‘stache. Basically, here’s the premise: Jason Lee plays Earl, a dim-witted low-life thief who wins the lottery one day, and when he runs into the street to celebrate — SLAM! he’s hit by a car. Of course, he loses the ticket.
While he’s laid up in the hospital, Earl hears Carson Daly (of all people) explain the concept of karma and he realizes, maybe if I was nicer to people, good things will happen to me, too. So … Earl sets out to correct all the things he’s done wrong over the course of his life. Hilarity ensues. Continue reading
Laughed 
pretty hard at the Emmy awards this evening. Ellen DeGeneres was her usual funny self, Zach Braff’s English accent was hysterical, the montages of comedy show writing staffs were great as always, the Eva Longoria jokes at the start of the show were good, and Jon Stewart … man, that guy just rocks.
And it’s a good thing I laughed as hard as I did because the awards themselves made me wanna scream. I mean, the fact that Terry O’Quinn, ahem, lost for his performance on Lost was just a crime. It also would have been nice had Jeremy Piven won for his performance on Entourage, so the fact that the award went to Brad Garrett of all people was just annoying. I mean, it’s so frustrating when the same people win (or are nominated) year after year. Thank God it was Everybody Loves Raymond‘s last season — and that this is Will & Grace‘s last season.
On the other hand, big ups to J.J. Abrams for his Emmy win, to S. Epatha Merkerson for beating Halle Berry and giving the most memorable acceptance speech of the night, and of course, to Lost for winning Best Drama Series. And I’m so happy that Felicity Huffman won for best lead actress on a comedy; her role on Desperate Housewives might not be the most comedic, but she’s overdue for recognition.
It was also nice to see David Letterman make a rare Emmy appearance. His tribute to Johnny Carson, while serious and maybe a bit too long, was heartfelt and well done. No surprise. Here’s just a short quote from an AP story about the show:
Letterman recalled how Carson was asked once by a Tonight show audience member what had made him a star. “I started out in a gaseous state and then I cooled,” Carson said.
“Johnny Carson’s star never cooled,” Letterman said.
Simple and perfect. And then Jon Stewart’s line soon after — “The way that he feels about Johnny Carson is the way that all of us, the comedians of our era, feel about him” — was not only so great, but also a nice slap in Jay Leno’s face.
I suppose it was also nice to see Desperate Housewives get, I suppose some would say robbed of its Emmy for Best Comedy Series, but did it have to go to Everybody Loves Raymond? I mean, really. Though I guess as long as it wasn’t Will & Grace, I have to be happy.
Finally, no offense to my friends and family members who have or will be pregnant, but has a woman with child ever looked as beautiful as Jennifer Garner did?
Ahhhhh … awards shows. You’ve gotta love ’em. Or at least I do.
Just read that a guy 
named Suresh Joachim, who lives in Toronto but hails from Sri Lanka, has broken the Guinness World Record for most consecutive hours watching television. How many did he watch? Try 69 hours and 48 minutes, all of which he did with the TV tuned to ABC in New York. He finished up Friday morning at around 7 a.m. According to Guinness, the rules allow for a 5-minute break every hour and a 15-minute break every 8 hours. The viewer must otherwise be constantly looking at the screen. The previous record was 50 hours and 7 minutes.
Now, considering it’s still rerun season, 
he couldn’t have watched much that was interesting or new (not including the news programs and talk shows), and I guess he had to watch W’s thrilling press conference — maybe that’s when he took one of his 15-minute breaks. And considering he did this largely on a Thursday, that means he missed out on watching a brand new episode of The O.C., which I thought was pretty good. I mean, it’s back (generally) to how things were first season when Summer was catty and funny (mmm … I likes me some Summer), and it’s not overly serious like last year was.
But anyway, back to Suresh.
According to the 
guy’s web site, sureshjoachim.org, Suresh has some kind of fetish for breaking Guinness World Records. Apparently, he spent 100 hours bowling not too long ago. He also broke the record for the longest duration balancing on one foot (76 hours, 40 minutes).
And why does he do it? To raise awareness of suffering children. That’s right. His couch potato-ing was all for the children.
I can’t make this stuff up, people.
When I went to Orange County in June, one of the other press people on my trip was a reporter from the Boston Herald. While I was there to check out a hotel, she was on specific assignment to experience “The Real O.C.” The story she wrote about the trip finally ran today, just in time for the show’s season premiere.
Want to know about the “real” O.C.? Here’s my take on it.
Basically, there is no “real” O.C. Take the Bait Shop, for example. We were taken to the Newport Pier to see it, or at least where it would have been if it actually existed. The building that is supposed to be the Bait Shop, the one used for the exterior shots, is actually in Santa Monica, about an hour away. Continue reading
I suppose it’s cool knowing that I went to school with actors who have made it big.
I may not have been friends with all of these guys, but still, who doesn’t enjoy saying “I know him?”
These days, I can do that with a solid handful of folks. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 