If I could just get into a rhythm here, I'd be in good shape. I really do get ideas to post about more than once every three weeks. I think the biggest issue as of late is that since we moved into the house, my computer is not within viewing distance of the TV. I'll be the first to tell you that I watch a lot of TV, and that I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing. So the bonus of having a small place to live was that I could multitask, if watching TV and surfing/posting can be considered multitasking. Even now I'm listening to an audiobook while I'm writing this (The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King--part two of The Dark Tower Series, which is much better than I thought it was going to be), and recording an episode of CMT's Crossroads to my video camera so that I can capture it to the computer and burn it to DVD later. Let me just tell you that it's one heck of a mind exercise to write and listen to a story at the same time. But that's enough of that.
For those wondering how the bird saga ended (that last post wasn't quite the end), after we got the dead birds removed, there was another happy couple that tried to have a tryst in another vent. The problem was that the vents on the back of the house were just big holes with hoods over them. I can't imagine this is the first time in the eight year existence of this house that this problem has come up, which is what makes me wonder why those vents hadn't been replaced. So anyway, I went and got vents with slats. After I replaced the first one, the birds (I think they're starlings) made their way between the slats. So after much weeping and wailing, I found that I could take off the slats and put up some screen behind them. Since then, we've had no more bird problems. I think they hate us, though, because every time I was outside working on the vent, the male would sit on top of the house or the fence and yell at me.
There hasn't been too much other drama going on lately. Work, of course, is constant drama, but that's what happens when you have 35 female employees. But that's another story. I'll move on. I'd like to address the "Ask Tha Docta" section that I've never done. I've gotten a few questions over the life of the blog, but not enough to actually compose a respectable post. So I'll just reiterate that I'll answer questions about anything. Of course, being Tha Docta, you know my specialty. But I also consider myself a media guru (with anything besides current events). Feel free to ask anything about movies, music, television, books, etc. I'll take anything. Speaking of which, remember how I was going to make a media diary for this year, which would list all the movies I watched? Yeah, I forgot too. So hopefully I can keep it up next year, because I'd be interested to look back and see how much time I spend with this stuff.
With the last couple of paragraphs here, I'll suggest a movie and a TV show. I haven't done an edition of The List in a while, so that will probably be forthcoming. But anyway...
If you haven't seen Sin City yet, go out right now and see it. But before you go, know that the movie is not for the faint of heart. It's very violent, but the violence is different from other movies. When you watch Sin City, it's like reading a graphic novel. (A graphic novel, for those who don't know, is basically a longer edition of a comic book i.e. a novel with graphics.) It looks and feels like a graphic novel. Blood shows up as patches of bright white on the characters' clothes, and everything is in black and white with a few exceptions (a red dress, or most notably a character whose body is a bright yellow--I believe the credits called him Yellow Bastard). The acting by the male leads is fantastic, most notably Mickey Rourke, from whom no one has heard in eons. Quentin Tarantino is a special guest director, and I only mention that because I have no idea what it means. So if anyone does, please feel free to enlighten me. But back to the movie. My good buddy Joel seemed to think that the movie was too violent, and that it was like a 14-year-old boy's fantasy movie, what with the abundance of blood and sexuality. While those were two staples of the movie, I only saw them as part of the story. What was fun for me was the noir-ish kind of quality Sin City had, complete with gritty voice-overs and the feel of an old detective movie. And when the novelty of how the movie was presented wore off, the stories were still good. I cared about the characters, even though a lot of them had some serious issues. There were hardly any traditional "good guys" here, if any at all, but it didn't matter. Anyway, without going into any plot detail, I'll say that this is the best movie I've seen in a long time.
As for the TV show, "Eyes" on ABC has been a very pleasant surprise for me lately. ABC has come out of nowhere with a couple of great shows this year. If you're not watching "Lost", it's the best show on the air right now. That's even beating out "24", which has held that position in my mind for the last three years. The problem with "24" is that it no longer surprises me. For the first three seasons of the show, I used to watch every week with no idea what was going to happen. It was great having such an unpredictable plot. But now, even though I still really enjoy it, and it's still one of the best shows around, it's stopped surprising me. Seriously, is there any regular viewer of the show that hasn't known for the last month that President Palmer would come back? And the shooting down of Air Force One ("the twist that changed everything") could be seen coming a mile away. You want to impress me? Kill Jack. I think "24" would last a lot longer if they walked away from all the characters and the setting while they were still popular. I think this may be the last year they can squeeze out of old Kiefer without getting old. With a show this fast-paced, you've got to keep things fresh, or they'll die. Show me another important 24 hours. Go to another agency, or even just an average citizen that gets in some kind of mess for 24 hours. I can deal with the coincidence that every scenario is resolved in 24 hours. It's the name of the show, after all. But that wasn't the point of this paragraph.
If you want to see a quality show, check out "Eyes". Tim Daly is awesome in the lead role as Harlan Judd, the head of Judd Risk Management. JRM employs private investigators and information systems specialists that work to pretty much anything a client asks of them. (Assessing the need for security at a given facility, collecting evidence for a trial, finding the guy your wife's having an affair with, etc). The job is always done, and sometimes it's done using questionable tactics. It's a much better idea than how I'm describing it (I don't write reviews often...can you tell?). The acting in the show is great, and you can pick it up without having to watch older episodes (it's only been on for a few weeks). I highly recommend that you tell your VCR or TiVo to get this show for you. It's good stuff. With the addition of this show, ABC has claimed the coveted "Best Night of TV" award. With "Lost" at 8:00, "Alias" and 9:00, and "Eyes" at 10:00, there is no night on any one channel that can beat it. In fact, I don't know of any night on multiple channels that can beat those three in a row. Tuesday, of course, has "Scrubs" and "The Office", which makes Tuesday night the "Funniest Night on TV".
That's all for this edition, ladies and gentlemen. Hopefully I can get into a groove here and favor you with more posts like my last one and fewer posts like this one (I haven't read back over it, but let's just say I realize I probably shouldn't listen to a book while I'm writing).
Song of the day: "Given to Fly", by Pearl Jam. I heard this song on the radio the other day and was reminded of how awesome it is. Sure it kind of sounds like "Going to California". But it still rules.
9 years ago
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