Yes!

The cardboard box for my Simpsons Season 6 DVD's that I sent away for came at last. It was an extra couple of bucks but I had to get it- that ridiculous Homer head plastic bubble the set came in originally was unstackable, and I want my Simpson's DVD Boxed Sets to be lined up all nice and tidy on the shelf, and going on forever...

The New Frontier in Sound

I have beheld the future of home entertainment, and home sound experiences, and it is 5.1 surround sound live music DVD's that put you there. Wrap you up in sound, knock you around a bit and give you the sensation that maybe you're there- at least aurally.

Examples:

Roger Waters, The Wall Live in Berlin. Titanic.
Led Zeppelin, DVD. Described previously. Awesome- the closest we'll get to seeing and hearing them live.
Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Live Rust. "Cortez the Killer" transports me back to Bonnaroo 2003.
The Tragically Hip, That Night in Toronto (available separately or in the Hipeponymous boxed set). Hot, a great show that totally encapsulates the experience of a Hip show, and a great one at that.
U2, Vertigo Live in Chicago. The DTS mix is killer- you are there soundwise. U2 Go Home, Live at Slane Castle (2001) also has a boffo DTS mix as well.

I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention The Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots 5.1 and VOID (Video Overview in Decceleration), which while not live still manages to transport you somewhere else- thanks to the exciting and vibrant 5.1 mixes of local boy Dave Fridmann. Indeed, the next frontier of sound...

Did some house cleaning on my day off to the second disc of the 2003 Zeppelin DVD set- and anybody who champions the first disc (largely a show from 1970) over the second, which chronicles Zep's years of POWER, '72-79 obviously didn't watch them in DTS. The molar rattling potency of "The Ocean"... the wall of sound swagger on "Misty Mountain Hop"... the delicate beauty of "Going to California"... the death blues crunch of "In My Time of Dying" and sheer majesty of a powerful, urgent live "Stairway to Heaven"... this is what Zep's really about, and for a generation that MISSED OUT completely the DTS sound cranked up LOUD is the closest we'll ever get to truly and totally appreciating Zeppelin's rock of the ages.

My Career as a Clone Trooper for the Galactic Republic / Stormtrooper of the Empire, So Far

I will try to make this my last SW:BF2 post, but that said, it is the greatest. In "Campaign" or story mode (otherwise known as Reign of the Empire), and as a member of the 501st Battalion I have:

- Trained on Geonosis at the start of the Clone Wars from Episode II. Way cooler than the first Battlefront game.

- After enjoying the classic Star Wars title crawl, captured a component for the future Death Star's laser beam on that cool eerie snow and roads over nothingness planet during the beginning of the end of the Clone Wars.

- Fought crazy Episode II beasties and got to fight as the foxy blue Jedi Master on the freaky flower planet.

- Gotten my ass handed to me trying to get past a crazy space battle sequence ala Episode III. Crazy.

- Fought alongside Yoda on Chewbacca's planet in that crazy Episode III battle.

- Done the whole "kill General Greivous" thing.

- Stormed and destroyed the Jedi Temple as the new Darth Vader, and a bunch of Jedi.

- Crushed Naboo and assasinated the Queen who's been harboring fugitive Jedi.

- Put down a Droid rebellion, the last droid rebellion, on that Volcano Planet.

- Put down a Clone Trooper rebellion in the rain engineered by the albino cloners from Episode II. This was cool because it explained why the Stormtroopers from the original movies don't sound like Jango Fett (the Emperor had to use different clone samples to mix up the homogenized clone ranks). Groovy and crazy.

- Been rechistened a Stormtrooper of the Empire after the fall of the Republic, still in the 501 st, now called Vader's Fist. So much fun...

- Pacified a Rebel prison break on the Death Star in a sequence that takes that awesome set and matte paintings from that original masterpiece and renders them in 360 degree PS2 clarity. It blew my mind. Hard.

- Tracked the Death Star plans to a Rebel base on the planet where Luke and Leia are born and where Padme dies (sad), and destroyed the base. Harder.

- Eventually captured Princess Leia's Blockade Runner, put down the Rebels and the Princess. Taking her down was hard, even as the ruthless Darth Vader (in the suit!). Crazy detail oriented in the missions required to finish the board, and crazy hard.

- And after taking down some of the Yavin 4 fleeing Rebel fleet (for Hoth?) now I'm slogging on Yavin 4's surface trying to exact revenge for the destruction of the Death Star. Nuts.

This game is the bomb, the Star Wars sensory overload even more maxed out than the fine first Battlefront. Crazy fun, and I know there is more to go. Indeed, the fellows do love getting their destruction on, especially considering in one mode you can fight as either a Hero (Jedi, Han Solo, Leia, etc.) or Villain (Sith, Fetts, Grievous) in a bloodless bodycount free-for- all set to a swell soundtrack that includes some Star Wars nuggets disregarded as a result of the Special Editions.

I cannot get enough of it.

- Right now I'd have to say that the second season of Lost is superior to the first half of the premier season; the OC -esque musical montages are almost ludicrous (considering The OC flirts with ludicrousness with said musical montages), and it hasn't been weird in a while- whereas this season it is crazy dense with "huh?" moments from the get go. Apparently it picks up tremendously eventually, we shall see...

- NBC deserves a big raspberry for not covering those people getting clocked by that streetlight at the Macy's Parade- that footage is priceless quite frankly, and it's not like their broadcast brimmed with excitment anyway. How could they pass up "TERROR AT THE MACY'S PARADE?" It's not like anybody was killed and like I said, that footage is magnificent.

- I can't believe I didn't catch glimpse of Mischa Barton's nipple on The OC last week, and I profoundly regret that I'd deleted it off the Tivo before reading that they joked about it on SNL in EW (like many Americans, my Saturday BM read). Even though she looks good this season (I love healthy eaters), I must have been engrossed (the Chino Kid and the Tragic Surfer battle the skinhead evil surfer! Sandy the bleeding heart Zen Jedi Master liberal trying to run his father in-law's company!). If you have it saved e-mail me and we'll talk.

- The Bills game was awesome loss notwithstanding. The people in Section 201, in the Rockpile, are the greatest: Bluto, our cheerleader and public flasher- with a crazy glint in his eyes, the surly drunk chick who called everybody "retard!", the crazy old dudes booted out and the families who enjoy the unique atmosphere- football fandom at it's purest, and the cool dudes everywhere to chat with chatted amiably. I will also say that everybody was profoundly courteous (except for the surly drunken chick). It was great. And the smell of burning stuff, animal flesh or otherwise is intoxicating on a cold, damp morning before battle... "to fight the horde, singing and crying: Valhalla, I am coming! On we sweep with threshing oar, Our only goal will be the western shore"... oh yes, it was like the visigoth camp that you can imagine but didn't see before the big battle at the beginning of Gladiator.

Football is America. America loves football. I love football. Therefore I love America.

But if we were buzzing Sunday vikings the security dudes were frigging Stormtroopers as everybody got weary, tightened up, and leaned away when they passed by. Between that and going to shows at Darien Lake I have to say- WTF? But like I said, the loss being a late buzzkill, on balance all was good. And then I went to Casa Parks for Thanksgiving left overs, AND ANOTHER BIRD! 13 lbs I believe, and again, perfectly cooked. My mother is the best turkey cooker in the Northeast, if not north of the Mason Dixon line, and I defy anybody to prove me otherwise.

- I must confess that I am intrigued by the mulligan apparently taken by the Wachowski Brothers for the ending they've put at the end of the new Matrix videogame to replace the total letdown that was the third movie's trilogy deflating conclusion. I think I'll rent that after I've burnt myself out with SW:BF2, which won't be for for a while. I'm a Stormtrooper General for God's sake!

- This week's Simpsons was one of their occasional classics, the ones that keep it fresh: hey, there's Diamond Joe Quimby's long suffering wife in a pillbox hat! A depressed Marge walking down Main St. to R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts!" That image of Milhouse's Italian Grandmother chasing him across a Tuscan hillside yelling "idiota!" And the frantic and sad Homer (and Homer in those pajamas curled up on the floor waiting for Marge, who's been out with her new friends from a social anarchist tea and social society), sad because Marge was sad... it was all sweet, hilarious, and all good.

Spanish Castle Magic

- Hendrix's "Spanish Castle Magic" off of Axis Bold As Love is psychedelic heavy metal magic. Now listen to "War Pigs" off of Sabbath's Paranoid, which is heavy metal psychedelic death and destruction black magic. Awesome.

- There was no way I couldn't not buy Lost Season 1 on DVD yesterday at Target for $30, especially considering that I was planning on renting them from Blockbuster anyway. Of course I'm still working my way through the episodes (presented beautifully in 5.1 surround sound- which they actually had fun with in the mixing), but the bonus material looks boffo- a real plus for a season 1 DVD set (yeah I'm talking about the pithy X-Files and Buffy season 1 DVDs) where less is usually less. A full report will be forthcoming, but upon first glance this could be a winner.

If there is an upside to a sagging economy (at least for those of us who have to buy stuff to keep it afloat) it's this: cheap crap at the mall, or in this case Target: Lost and The OC on DVD for $30, Harry Potter DVDs for $6, Great Ceasar's Ghost- cheap stuff everywhere!

- I think I might have to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the IMAX (IMAX... sweet IMAX, just to make sure I wasn't too hard on it the first go-around.

Thangiving Wrap Up

1) my Mother is the queen of turkey; yesterday's bird was as succulent as it was huge, a masterpiece. She also killed with the gooey cinammon buns (with craisins and apples) we had earlier for breakfast, the cranberry sauce (with port- oooh), stuffing, and pecan pie. I killed when I made the whiskey sours and mashed the potatoes.

2) it looked like nobody was having fun in the booths on CBS or NBC for the Macy's parade. Next year get all of them loaded- please, or hit them with electric brownies.. something, anything.
It was way better with a Flaming Lips soundtrack.

3) I watched 15 minuts of Joey while people throughout the house dozed, and I didn't laugh once.

4) CSI is still an X-Files rip off in my book without the X, and frankly CSI flies in the face of everything I've learned from watching Law and Order- since when do CSI geeks apprehend and interrogate perps in the box?And what was the deal with that CSI dude's porno star mustache? Jeez. I can't believe there are 3 CSI shows on the air (and how many more clones like Cold Case)... I just can't.

5) Star Wars Battlefront 2 is really the best video game ever. I figured I'd try to finish off the board I'm stuck on before bed and whoops- I inadvertantly crushed bedtime. It's truly addictive, a Star Wars adrenaline rush that's just ridiculous.

Symetry?

While admiring my Star Wars DVD collection last night, flush with wine and turkey, a few truths presented themselves to me:

The Phantom Menace and The original Star Wars (A New Hope) are road movies of the Wizard of Oz / Hidden Fortress variety, in which boys named Skywalker begin their journeys towards destiny; one is a kids movie because the Skywalker is a kid, the other a coming of age fable because... well, Luke's coming of age. And apparently according to Joseph Campbell you have to be older for the coming of age fable.

Attack of the Clones and Empire Strikes Back have stories that begin together for the first third, get split and intercut throughout the second third, and reconnect over botched rescue attempts for the conclusion. Both have love stories.

Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi begin with rescue missions and both feature inexorable marches to a dramatic conclusion and a tidy wrapping up of the loose ends, both are also George Lucas / ILM FX orgies in which both generations of ILM geniuses go for broke for the boss); one begins with the rescue of the high and mighty High Chancellor of the Galaxy and ends with a friendship and the galaxy in tatters, the other begins with friends rescuing friends and ends with the galaxy being righted at last.

I had a Thanksgiving dream last night... the Flaming Lips had a float in the Macy's parade... with Wayne throwing confetti into the crowd and the dancers in the animal costumes... and the good music instead of the canned Broadway stuff they inflict on us annually. But it was just a dream.

That's why I watched some of the parade with some "Soft Bulletin" on the stereo. Happy Thanksgiving.

Just watched the U2 segment on this week's "60 Minutes" and the fact of the matter is that U2 is the biggest band in the world, and the best too, hands down. And probably the best rock band since Led Zeppelin. While conveying positive messages and vibes to a worldwide audience that reaches into almost every corner of the world. It's just sick. Those were people in Milan Italy going apeshit during a U2 show and singing their brains out, and it sounded exactly like it did in the Skydome back in '97- another stadium full of people going apeshit, and having a shared religious experience (my dear brother Tim, a non U2 fan gushed that it was the best show he'd ever been too, until he corrected himself to give proper respect to his first love Clapton). Different continents, different languages but the sound, the vibe was the same, and 60 Minutes channeled that perfectly. Kudos to Ed Bradley, who also got it, and gave respect.

I cannot wait until 12/9 for the show at the HSBC. And judging from that awesome production they showed from Milan gig I really think it'd be cool if the lads did a summer stadium tour next year, even it means them cashing in (oh Hell, why not, they've earned it). A general admission stadium tour 2006 (the quality of the seat dictated by how fast you buy the ticket) ... whatya say U2? 2006: The Hip, The Flaming Lips, (hopefully) Rush, and U2 in a stadium? That would be a mighty fine concert season indeed...

The Simpsons this week is another throwaway classic, not a classic you'll quote from but a hilarious installment nonetheless, a fine parable about getting what you wish for with a recall election- I'm talking about you California!

And God did the Bills suck today. Yikes!

And the man himself Joe Vip came through with a hot tip that upon further investigation looks worthy of notice: Comfortably Numb: The Canadian Pink Floyd Show tribute band (considered "musically one of the best in the world"- Brain Damage.co.uk) is playing The Opera House in Toronto January 20-22. Get this: they will be recreating the Animals tour May 9, 1977 show from the Oakland Colisseum, a show I happen to have a bootleg cdr copy of, and check out this setlist:

Set 1:
Sheep
Pigs on the Wing (part one)
Dogs
Pigs on the Wing (part two)
Pigs (Three Different Ones)

Set 2:
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1-5)
Welcome to the Machine
Have a Cigar
Wish You Were Here
Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 6-9)

Encore:
Money
Us and Them
Careful With That Axe, Eugene

Yes, thats both Animals and Wish You Were Here in their entirety. I've always said that if I had a time machine this is the Pink Floyd show I'd go to (the NYC Radio City Music Hall show from 1973 is a close second), so yes, I definately think I'll be visiting Toronto in January.

And lo, according to Brain Damage Pulse is FINALLY coming to DVD in January 2006. Thank God, at last, a 5.1 surround sound version of Dark Side of the Moon live (from Floyd's last tour), for me, on DVD.

Relics is the best cover band in WNY. When they advertise "The Music of Pink Floyd" they mean it: clever setlist choices (ie following the first three cuts off side 1 of The Wall with "Childhood's End" from Obscured by Clouds), tremendous attention to Floyd detail, and some serious jamming (they crushed, crushed "Dogs" and "Pigs" from Animals, and they probably crushed "Sheep" but I lost my mojo before they closed their 2nd set- sorry). And the dense sound mix last night at the Four Aces in Blasdell made for a heavy, powerful show, with one of the big highlights being a shredding rendition of "The Nile Song" that conjured almost as much hardcore Sabbath as it did psychedlic Floyd. I love these guys (I even love the art on their posters and flyers- great visual design), and their shows are always a gas.

Upcoming Relics gigs include 11/25 at the Seneca Niagara Casino and 11/26 at Nietzche's.

"Lost" is the best show on TV, dense, raw, and very moving. It might also be something new on the TV scene, where art and craft meets visceral TV drama to create enthralling, spellbinding TV. The first 5 minutes of this week's "Lost" was preposterously enjoyable, some of the best TV I have ever seen: shattering visuals, seemless digital FX, followed by an example of sheer editing art. The folks who make Lost really flex their muscles every week, and clearly love what they are doing, and this of course makes for some damned fine TV. It's a shame it's up against the other "best show" on TV, the superlative "Veronica Mars,"which has replaced the "whodunnit" story arc of last season this year with a tale of political intrigue and class warfare that is unfolding at a deviously leisurely pace that tantalizes viewers with twists always just around the corner. Wow, the folks without a DVR they are in a real pickle indeed.

I also agree with Robin Quivers, who asked on Stern a few weeks back "why would people go to the movies when TV looks better than the movies?"- between "Lost," "Smallville," "The West Wing" and "24" TV has definately closed the gap in terms of production values and cinematic presentation.

Based on Wilco's new live set, "Kicking Television: Live in Chicago" I can say that Wilco is America's Radiohead, our band on the frontiers of our popular musical art delivering the goods.

At last I can say that the audiobook CD of "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" as performed by Jim Dale is of course wonderful. How that man can juggle that expanding cast of characters and voices is extremely impressive, as is his ability to the tone precisely right. Hot tip: you can get the audiobooks on TAPE at the Superflea on Walden mas cheap from the bookselling lady smack dab in the middle of the flea, and on CD from the good booksellers across our nation in the Amazon.com marketplace at a good price. I really hope I get "The Order of the Phoenix" on CD for Christmas- boy howdy.

Maureen Dowd, sharp yet sweet, bold yet modest... is so hot, and her writing is priceless. I can't help it.

Oh Yeah

Whoops. Based on the "King Kong" trailer I can say that boy that movie looks awesome; another killer Peter Jackson flick after the mind boggling awesomeness of "Return of the King" (and the other two LOTR masterpieces). At three hours long it could be a bit much for a midnight show, but it definately will be an opening day-o-rama 12/14/05 (and who knows, if I work MTTTHF maybe...).

And the "Superman Returns" (Summer 2006) teaser trailer is magnificent on the big screen, almost emotionally overwhelming in fact. The voice of Marlon Brando as Jor-El from the first movie (note: a recording of Jor-El in fact, from the Fortress of Solitude sequence I think) backed by the John Williams "Krypton Theme," and that striking shot of the people of Metropolis looking up in the sky... wow, it almost brought a tear to my eye. Or maybe that was because my eyes opened wide and didn't blink for the duration of the preview. Either way that movie could be something to behold. We shall see.

That computer animated dancing Penguin movie- eh, probably not. And "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" looks terrible, there wasn't one honest laugh in the entire preview, a downright Steve Martin shame.

Spoiler Alert

Alas, the order in which I like the Harry Potter movies from "best" to "not as much"is:

4) The Goblet of Fire
3) The Chamber of Secrets
2) The Sorceror's Stone
1) The Prisoner of Azkaban

Why "alas" you ask? Because the order in which I like the Harry Potter books from "best" to "not as much" is:

6) The Philosopher's Stone
5) The Chamber of Secrets
4) The Prisoner of Azkaban
3) The Half Blood Prince
2) The Goblet of Fire
1) The Order of the Phoenix

And why does the fourth book, this "Goblet of Fire" rank so highly? Because it is the ludicrously imaginative and seriously pivotal hinge of the series, in which what has come before (including the another year, another adventure tone) in the first three gives way to the thrilling and inexorable inertia of the last three installments (trust me when I say if Rowling put out the seventh book tomorrow, on a Sunday less than five months after the release of the last Potter book it would sell as many copies as the sixth- the desire to read it as soon as possible that strong as a result of the potent conclusion of "Half Blood Prince," including the people who weren't a 100% into this installment), all a result of the pivotal fourth installment. Unfortunately like much of the second film, "Goblet of Fire" just sort of happens, with no flow from scene to scene or set piece to set piece until the last half hour, which is rousing and satisfying; unfortunately the fourth movie forgoes that too, apparently to cram as much in as possible in two and a half hours. Alas it does not work and the fourth Potter movie comes up short, not bad but certainly not great. It's got some great stuff, and some fine British humor and spirit, but it's all a tad jumbled and lacks the punch of the book, which features some of Rowling's best and emotionally satisfying writing.

Hopefully the makers of the fifth movie, "The Order of the Phoenix" (due I think in 2007) will get it right, or at least righter.

And for the record, I like the densely plotted, slyly written, and increasily sophisticated (prose wise) Potter books. It ain't majestic and overtly mythological like Tolkien's LOTR saga or refined (upper crusty, ableit enjoyably so) like Susanna Clarke's "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell but Rowling is doing something interesting and satisfying nonetheless with her gentle yet increasingly dark popular fiction that has become modern pop culture myth.

Week End TiVO Report

"My Name is Earl" is dark, twisted, innocent and sweet. It also seems to be getting better.

"The Daily Show" Thursday crapped on Dick Cheney's head with their "Jackass Jackpot," in which all of Dick's dangerous and irresponsible Iraq war talk was showcased for all to see. And I had to LAUGH when I watched CNN debunk the White House talking points in detail on "The Situation Room." Apparently they ain't safe from Comedy Central or CNN. Oh well.

The obscene product placement on this week's "Smallville" was preposterous. The "Superman Returns" trailer aired during "Smallville" was swell, mythic and cool. Bryan Singer just might get it right.

South Park was brilliant, a magnificent debunking of Scientology so funny it hurt, especially when Tom Cruise went in Stan's closet and wouldn't come out no matter how many people asked him to "come out of the closet." There's also a possibility that South Park might bring down the Church of Scientology, which would be super cool too.

The existential search for connection in a world that seems to be against us. People reaching out to other people in their time of need. Enemies reaching out to each other out of basic compassion for their fellow man. The quest for inner hapiness in the eternal face of the temptation of basic human weakness. God the OC is so much fun.

The Overdue TiVO Report

The elections are over and my brain is fried. That means it's TiVO night, and it was:

1) SWEET. My Name Is Earl is just sweet and good natured fun, with a nice dark sense of humor. Ethan Supplee deserves an Emmy for his work on this show.

2) BITTER. The Office was dark fun. The one night stand that goes wrong for Steve Carrell. The employee / cast reading of the Boss's secret screenplay starring himself. It's too funny, and probably not enjoyed at all by most Americans.

3) WEIRD. Lost was nuts. They killed the hot blonde chick, and it's got a little too much of the Twin Peaks thing going on (think dancing midget who talked backwards). But strangely it's still engrossing.

4) SPIZTERIFFIC. The Man of 2006 was jim dandy on Monday's Colbert Report. The "Enforcer" indeed.

The newest Arrested Development and Veronica Mars will have to wait. I love my TiVO.

Whoops

I'd also be remiss if I didn't note:

1) that on Friday I finished "Imperial Ambitions: Conversations on the Post 9/11 World" by Noam Chomsky and David Barsamian, a fine collection of interviews with America's finest dissident thinker featuring all sorts of trenchant analysis on America's domestic and foreign policy. It's a real shame that Chomsky is banned from the MSM.

2) of course after starting his "Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order" I can see why he's banned from the MSM: his common sensical debunking of free market hocus pocus and thoughts on the nature of power and who's got it absolutely has to be forbidden from coming anywhere near accepted mainstream dogma about why things are the way they are.

3) and the Tragically Hip's "Hipeponymous" boxed set is great. I'm still working through all 4 discs (2 cd, 2 dvd), but the song selections are a perfect representation of the Hip's enduring art, and the music video collection on the fourth dvd is a real hoot, especially for us folks south of the border who almost NEVER get to see any of them. A full report will be forthcoming...

West Wing Debate Wrap Up, and a Confession

OK, it might have slightly lost it's focus towards the end but tonight's live debate on "The West Wing" between Democrat Senator Bail Organa and Republican Hawkeye Pierce was a treat- a real debate between liberal vitues and neoliberal free market hooey, and of course liberal virtues won out (blame writer / analyst Lawrence O'Donnell). Brad Whitford absolutely called it the other night on "The Colbert Report:" it absolutely was Lawrence O'Donnell's dream debate, literally and proverbially- such a free exchange of ideas would NEVER happen in a real world Presidential debate (I mean, could you imagine El Presidente... left to fend for himself... in a battle of ideas and ideology?!?), but gosh it was nice to see in any case. And when Jimmy Smits did his mantra about the virtues of liberalism... on American television no less... my mother and I almost wept (Dad was in the other room watching "Robocop" alas).* It was great stuff. Why anybody would watch that "Commander in Chief" hargle bargle is beyond me.

And the latest Simpsons Halloween episode was also mighty fine: a nice dig at the World Series which always pushes the Halloween episode to after Halloween, a thinly veiled shot at reality tv and our skewed entertainment mores (tv sex = bad, tv violence = awesome!), and I just had to laugh when Kang and Kodos accidentally sucked the universe and God, the big cheese, out of existance after trying to speed up a baseball game. "Smooth move Space-lax."

* No I don't live at home. I was there to mooch Sunday dinner. I also had a chance to read my mother's latest "New York" magazine with the nice big feature article about Times columnist Maureen Dowd- the total package: a brilliant writer into who happens to be into film noir with vintage movie star glamour and beauty. Ah... she can eviscerate me any day.

Fall Cock Up

There's something bittersweet about Fall in WNY: the stone cold reality that summer, glorious summer is gone, along with my being able to wear shorts and my Jerusalem cruisers- or women being able to wear the great stuff they wear during the summer months; the change of the leaves; and road work frigging everywhere and cocking up everything. The 33 is cocked up coming and going, as is Delaware, Main St., Union Rd., Walden- the list goes on and on.... traffic cock ups everywhere!

I hate traffic, and I really hate traffic cock ups.

Stick It To The Man!

After inhaling dangerous printer fumes at Democratic HQ for 4 hours I was ready for the new OC and it didn't disappoint. Having been raised on "Ryan's Hope" during lunchtime I am not ashamed to admit being susceptible to the charms of the soap opera- but hey hey, The OC is cool. And way better than the ludicrous "Laguna Beach: The Real OC," which I TiVO'd a few weeks back for shits and giggles to my bitter disappointment. The OC is way better than that MTV crap, which like everything else on that damned channel worships the bling, and the empty and ultimately worthless endeavours of the shamelessly rich beautiful people. At least The OC, like the superlative Veronica Mars has those existential and class warfare thangs going on; and The OC has all that cool music that you don't get to watch on the music video channels that no longer show music videos but show the empty and worthless endeavours of- you get the idea, and... great Star Wars references that occasionally come out of the kids and adults mouths (an acknowledgment of the profound multigenerational impact of Star Wars dontchaknow). It's the best, and probably way more fun than that Desperate Housewives thing that I refuse to watch thanks to the echoing thunder of negative reviews for it's second season. God that Marc Cherry guy is a jackass, and obviously a Republican (which they make a big point of in every article written about this cultural phenomenon)- the jerk got greedy and divided his efforts between multiple shows to the obvious detriment of what should be his gravy train, at least for a few more years (Chris Carter waited years before subjecting us to that excessive Millenium). What a Jerk.

And this week featured the long awaited comeuppance of that Rovishly nasty Taylor Townsend and cruel Dean Bitterman who was oppressing all those good kids so badly just because he could- the hardcore Jedi Sandy Cohen reading that Dean the riot act bit was worth watching twice! A guilty but fun and socially edifying show.


Yes, I am a sucker for that stuff. Yeehaw.

The Daily Show has been out of this world excellent this week: the Scalito vs. Scooter bit Monday, Sen. Barbara Boxer last night dropping some talking points last night, and Mike Wallace tonight. And tomorrow night historian David McCullough. This one show mops the floor with the entirety of the Fox News Channel's programming.

And O'Reilly? His schtick is so doomed it's just not funny- the Colbert Report has put an expiration date on his career and his time is up..... now.*


* Case in point" O'Reilly on the Daily Show whining and bitching about Colbert like a beeyatch THE DAY AFTER Colbert's first broadcast. The poor bastard was bitchslapped so hard he couldn't help but be desperate on national television.

My Day Off

OK, I was a tad depressed after the "hiatus"-ing of the radio show, so today wasn't that productive:

Star Wars Episode III is out on DVD, and it is good. The Star Wars DVD collection is still not complete however (that happens next month when the second volume of the Star Wars: Clone Wars cartoons come out on DVD- excellent stuff by the way, quintessential Star Wars), but as of today I am happier than a pig in slop.

Star Wars Battlefront 2 for PS2 is mind-boggling. Awesome. A vast improvement on the stellar original. It was hard leaving the house, that is for sure.

Tonight's "Office" was another tour de farce. Steve Carrell is a genius.

And actually, I did go to a union meeting tonight so I was sort of productive today. Gee whiz. Now back to Battlefront 2.