We're free! ... of cable

In an attempt to save some money and try to be more productive, the S.O. and I canceled cable TV and returned the DVR yesterday. Of course, we still have our Netflix account and the Internet (we actually have to have Internet access because we both work from home most of the time) so there's still plenty of "television" for us to watch. But we're hoping that when we sit down to watch, we watch something worth watching and don't just spend two hours flipping channels through mindless drivel.

That's not to say we won't end up watching some mindless drivel. Netflix has plenty of (really bad) reality shows available -- many to watch instantly. I'm going to fight to keep the worst of them off my queue, though.

Considering the good track record Netflix has suggesting movies for me, I expect to be watching a lot of British television programs, foreign films (especially foreign horror films), claymation and anime.

Catching up on the classics

I spent most of the summer reading science fiction and fantasy. I read the entire Thursday Next series: "The Eyre Affair," "Thursday Next: First Among Sequels," "Lost in a Good Book," "The Well of Lost Plots" and "Something Rotten." (They're all available from the library.) They are literary-geek, time-travel-twisty, science-fictiony fun.

I also read (on my niece's recommendation) "The Hunger Games." It's a YA book, a quick read and a lot of fun. Then I read "Small Favors," a Dresden Files book (I do love my Harry Dresden). Which, in case you don't know, are kind of noir detective novels with a wizard as a private investigator -- more geeky fun.

So, after all that geekery, I figured I should build up my brain with some classics. Over the weekend I read "Animal Farm" and finished "Jane Eyre." I do hate to admit to never having read "Jane Eyre" before but I have a good excuse. I always mixed it up with Jane Austen and I really don't care for Austen. OK. Not a good excuse, but it's an excuse.

I also downloaded some classics for the Kindle app on my iPod touch (there are a lot of classics available for the Kindle free from Amazon): "The Age of Innocence," "The Wizard of Oz," "Howard's End" and "Middlemarch." What I really like about the Kindle app is I can just sort of keep those books laying around, but they don't take up much space, I can take them all wherever I go, and -- best of all -- they were free.

To cap off the weekend, I watched a couple episodes of "The Angry Beavers" on Netflix. That's a classic, right?

Because this deserves a post

I don't try to hide the fact that I have some geeky tendencies. In fact, just recently it occurred to me that I'm probably a bigger geek than my video-game-playing, computer-center-occupation-having S.O. I'm the one that recommend "Ender's Game" to him, after all.

However, he is the one who introduced me to "Stargate: SG1." And he is the reason I own all 10 seasons of that show and all five seasons of "Stargate: Atlantis."

Recently, an innocent visit to Michael's to find parts to repair necklace, inspired a trip to Etsy.com, where I came across the shop Take It to the Moon and promptly proceeded to buy this:
For the uninitiated that is the symbol for Earth in the Stargate world. And it's awesome!

And yes, I am also wearing a Captain America T-shirt. Shut up.

But dammit he is so cute

Last month, I told you about Jason Lee's new television project, "Memphis Beat." I also told you I was intrigued, yet skeptical.

Today, one of those big ol' banner ads for the show displayed on a totally unrelated Web site (I was looking for an article about fruits and vegetables on wholeliving.com!).

I'm pretty sure it's a sign from the Television Gods, telling me to watch this program and maybe give Jason Lee another chance. After all, I don't have to personally watch those chipmunk travesties. And I did love him in "Chasing Amy," "Mallrats" and "My Name is Earl."

OK, sure, it could be that TNT is just really pushing this show, but I prefer to believe in the Television Gods theory. After all, who else has always been there for me, if not the warm, loving glow of TV.

And he is looking awfully damn cute, I must admit.

Don't you judge me.

I'm sure you have your obsessions.

Cheesy TV and me

I have a confession to make. Last night I spent nearly three hours watching "Ghost Whisperer" reruns on SyFy. I'm not sure how it happened. The remote was right next to me. I have a library of DVDs I can watch. I have both a Blockbuster Online and a Netflix subscription. I even have a bunch of (quality) movies recorded on the DVR.

Maybe it was the fact that I was working on a writing project at the same time (I will have to go re-read that to make sure it's coherent). Maybe I just needed some mindless entertainment in the background while I worked (I didn't seem to be getting much done sitting at my desk).

The most disturbing part was that I kinda, sorta liked it. I know! Don't judge me. It's not like I'll be seeking it out or anything. It's not as if I checked and found out that SyFy plays four-hour blocks of "Ghost Whisperer" every Monday. Or that it's on every weeknight on Ion Television (Comcast channel 26).

OK, so maybe I need a Cheesy TV intervention.

And yet, I know he'll just break my heart again

There is something oh-so-charming about Jason Lee in this promo.



Still, I don't know if I can ever fully forgive him for "Alvin and the F'ing Chipmunks."

Big Video Saturday

One of my new favorite things is "The Rotten Tomatoes Show" on Current TV. The hosts, along with viewers like you and me, critique new movies and present some how-to videos of their own. Like this one.



Because it features a clip from the movie "Big," I think it fulfills my daily Big quota. It's also quite funny, and Brett Erlich is a cutie pie.

Guilty Pleasures Friday

After spending a good portion of the day setting up body work for my car, I allowed myself a small indulgence this afternoon. What's my guilty pleasure? "The Pretender" on Hulu* and dry cereal.

You know, it's the little things.

*I can't help myself. Surveillance videos that zoom in and have multiple angles, a good guy who's a genius, bad guys who are pure evil, shifty eyes, knowing looks. All it's missing is a villain twirling his mustache and tying a girl to railroad tracks. It's so cheesy, and I love it so much I'm going to marry it.

Today in weird products

Current TV's "Infomania" (which you can watch here) has a segment called "We've Got You Covered." Which gives an overview of what's happening in magazines. Within that segment, they have something called "How the @#*! is this a magazine?" In that vein, I bring you "How the @#*! is this a real product advertised in a magazine?"

In the back of the S.O.'s "Men's Fitness," there is an ad for this product: The Goatee Saver. It's a template to help guys shave their goatee. Or as the Web site says, "an innovative grooming tool designed to give you the perfect goatee every time you shave."

I'm thinking the model on the Web site may have Photoshopped his goatee. I don't know any guy who has facial hair that looks quite like that. I'm also thinking if you need some kind of pattern to help you cut your goatee -- a template that you appear to have to hold in your mouth while you shave, no less -- maybe you should forgo the facial hair all together. It's just a thought.

On the other hand, "grooming perfection makes a perfect gift for that hard-to-buy-for guy."

Have you seen this?

It's a crazy British show called "Green Wing" and it's hilarious. Well, hilarious if you like British humor -- crass, sometimes raunchy British humor, that is.

I think this blurb from Wikipedia describes it quite well: Green Wing's plot revolves around the lives of the staff of the East Hampton Hospital Trust, an NHS hospital with staff ranging from the slightly unusual to the completely bizarre.

You can watch the entire series on Hulu. The S.O. and I watched the first season on BBC America. Then got to see the first episode of season two while we were actually in London. But BBC America never brought the second season to our shores. So we languished, never knowing what became of our crazy Green Wingers. Now, I can see it all.

Yesterday, I sat around all day, recovering from my dear friend's Halloween party and watched three episodes of the second season. I'm seriously considering starting over from the beginning.

As I said, it does take a certain taste in comedy. So please don't blame me if you watch it and don't like it. But if you like British television, you should give it a try . You might like it.

I'm sure there's a logical explanation

In case you didn't know, I'm a huge "Ghost Hunters" fan. New episodes started this week, so I was pretty excited to watch the show I recorded last night. When they find something they can't explain, I get goosebumps -- and there was plenty unexplained on this week's program.

Moments after the show ended and I turned off the TV, I heard a strange whirring noise. At first, I thought it must be one of the neighbors running some kind of machine outside. As I walked upstairs from the TV room, I realized it was coming from my house. I followed the noise to the S.O.'s office where I found the shredder running. I'm guessing something fell off his desk and hit the on button. But the only thing near by was a piece of paper. So, maybe it was on and the paper set off the sensor. Does that happen? I hit the off button. And just to be safe, unplugged it. (Yes, it was plugged in).

To top this story off, I had to squeeze my arm behind the S.O.'s huge desk to reach the plug. And almost couldn't pull my arm back out. Yep, home alone with my arm stuck behind the desk. I could see the S.O.'s cell phone perched on a shelf ... just out of reach. Lucky for me, Boot Camp really is paying off, and I was able to shift the desk just enough to pull my arm out. So, that was dumb. But I really didn't want the shredder to come on again. And. If it comes on now, I really can't come up with a logical explanation.

Hello, Taps?

Goodbye, Earl

So, another show bites the dust. NBC has canceled "My Name is Earl." Ok, sure the show didn't live up to its first-season greatness (I blame the bleeping writers' strike that put a kink in most scripted shows) but it was still better than the reality-show dreck we're being fed. Wasn't Stephen Baldwin on "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" before? Do we really need to see more of Stephen Baldwin or they-who-shall-not-be-named from The Hills?

And it's true that I had to take Jason Lee off "the list" for his parts in "Underdog" and "Alvin and the (effing) Chipmunks," but I still had a soft spot in my heart for his portrayal of Earl -- so cute, so sweet, so dumb.

I guess I'm just tired of reading about all the scripted shows (my love for "Pushing Daisies" is well documented) that have been canceled and all the new reality shows. I get enough reality every day. Television is my escape. Thank goodness for USA Network. Although I don't want to say anything too loudly. If they find out how much I love "Burn Notice" and "Psych," they may cancel those shows, too.

Here's a nice little tribute to "Earl" from Gael Fashingbauer Cooper of Pop Culture Junk Mail.

If there's something strange in your neighborhood

Today's "Get Fuzzy" gives a nod to "Ghost Hunters" while poking a little fun at the same time.

Here are Jason and Grant from "Ghost Hunters."


A pretty good likeness. But they're from TAPS (not ARSE).

I love both "Get Fuzzy" and "Ghost Hunters." So I was pretty excited by this. Yes, I am quite easily amused. Why do you ask?

Dammit!

I guess I don't keep up with the news well enough, because I just found out this morning that ABC is canceling "Life on Mars." Apparently because it was fun and quirky and not your average boring cop drama. (Although others felt differently. Stupid TV critic.)

ABC gave "Scrubs" a new lease on life -- why, I'm not sure. I loved it in the beginning but in the last few years it's become just another sitcom. And effing "According to Jim" just keeps barreling along out of control. But shows I really enjoy, like "Life on Mars," "Eli Stone" and "Pushing Daisies," get the ax.

I'm definitely not going to start watching "Castle." I might like it. And as much as I love looking at Nathan Fillion, I'm pretty sure he's death to a series. "Firefly" had one season. He was in six episodes of something called "Miss Match" that lasted one season. And recently, he was in "Drive" which iMDb claims had six episodes, but I think Fox only aired three or four of those.

I need to stop watching television.

Lost love

Those of you who don't watch "Lost" may not appreciate the love I have for this crazy show or the love for Hurley -- probably the best TV character. Ever.

Thanks to a post on Cake Wrecks, I have come across Jorge Garcia's blog, and he seems just as sweet and funny as he does as on the show.

Here's a snippet (and tell me this isn't totally cute):

So he called for the manager to open his drawer. And we waited. Now by this time there were people starting to line up behind me. The cashier apologized to them for the delay, but I knew SOMEONE in that group was thinking that the "guy from Lost was haggling over $1.00."

You can read the rest of that post and how he turned a wild pig into a cannibal, at his blog. Try not to fall in love. He may not be the prettiest boy on the island, but he's the most adorable.

What I watched: "Wonderfalls" The Complete Series

"Wonderfalls" is a quirky little gem that only lasted four episodes on Fox back in 2004. I missed it then. I only found out about it because "Pushing Daisies" is getting canceled, and Bryan Fuller, one of the writers for "Pushing Daisies" and "Dead Like Me" was a writer/producer/creator of "Wonderfalls." Three excellent series, all gone before their times.

Thanks to the magic of Blockbuster (or Netflix or Amazon if you'd like to buy it), the entire 13-run series of "Wonderfalls" is available on DVD. And I'm glad it is. It's fun and funny and romantic, and if the episodes seem to be tied up in too-neat-little packages, well, that's sometimes how it should be. It's exciting to wonder what the hell is going to happen next on a show like "Lost," but sometimes it's nice to just have everything tied up. It reminds of sitcoms when I was a kids.

Like "Pushing Daisies," "Wonderfalls" is visually vibrant, with interesting sets and a cute female protagonist, her cute male love interest. There's also an array of supporting characters -- from odd to outlandish-- that includes Lee Pace, Ned of "Pushing Daisies." At the end of the final episode, while I wished for more, I was left feeling satisfied with the outcome and happy to have discovered this show.

"Wonderfalls" may be a bit too quirky for some people, but those who like either "Pushing Daisies" or "Dead Like Me" (or both) should enjoy it.

What I watched: "Bender's Game"

Fox may have canceled "Futurama" years ago, but the hilarious antics of Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the gang live on in feature length DVD movies. The latest one is "Bender's Game," a weird mix of Dungeons & Dragons, the Lord of the Rings and Star Wars.

I'll admit the humor in "Futurama" may not be for everyone, but I laughed out loud through most of the movie, because of lines like this:

"Oooh dreadfully real. If you die here you'll really be dead. But instead of science, we believe in crazy hocus-pocus. It's like Kansas."

If you're a fan of "The Simpsons" or "Futurama," this is definitely worth the price of a rental. If you're not a fan, I have to wonder why. "Futurama" has a foul-mouthed beer-swilling robot, an ass-kicking red hot cyclops chick and a slacker from the 20th century. What more could you want? Hermaphrodite centaurs? Dragon battles? Love triangles? Oh, yeah, this movie has them all. And more.

Check out the trailer:

Christmas nostalgia

Who didn't love the Rankin and Bass Christmas specials? They don't make them like that anymore. ABC Family is showing Christmas movies and specials all month. And just because I don't have kids of mine own doesn't have to mean my inner child is dead.

There have been plenty of things throughout the past two years that have chipped away at my inner child's innocence. But a good Christmas movie seems to be just what the doctor ordered. There's nothing that will melt my cold black heart quite like an old-school Christmas special.

A couple nights ago I recorded "A Year Without Santa Claus." And it's just as wonderfully cheesy as I remember.

Here's Big Bad Voodoo Daddy showing the love.


If you're not feeling the Christmas spirit after that, there's not much I can do for you. You should probably go read "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and check the size of your heart.

And he puzzled and puzzed, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!
"Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more."

So's your face

There was an episode of "Scrubs" where J.D. tried to sting people with the comeback "So's your face." He used in all situations, even when it didn't make sense, replying, "'So's your face' always makes sense."

I had a "so's your face" moment yesterday when a stranger commented on one of my old entries about my new car. The comment: "Good for people to know." Maybe I misinterpreted the snarkiness of this comment, but coming from some random faceless person, I don't think I did.

I started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family and to be able to ramble about stuff I care about. Maybe the things I write wouldn't be all that interesting to the general public, but it's my blog. I'm not writing about this stuff in the comments section of other people's blogs, especially not on entries that are more than a year and a half old. And because it's my blog, I can reject these comments. I considered for a moment accepting the comment so I could zing the commenter with something witty, you know, like "so's your face."

Instead, I like to think I took the high road.

Election news burnout

For a while now I've been kind of obsessed with election news. And while I voted early, it ain't over till it's over. So I'm checking the news sites, watching the Daily Show, even reading the local newspaper, trying to see what will happen next. I know I'll be watching the election coverage Tuesday night, anxious about the outcome. But today, with two days left, I've hit a wall. I don't think I can read at any more campaign news, look at any more pictures of the candidates and their spouses or watch any more interviews or clips from SNL with the candidates or their lookalikes.

If you haven't voted, be sure to get out Tuesday and cast your ballot. If you know someone who might need help getting to the polls, offer a ride. Now, I have to stop thinking about the election for a couple of days. With that in mind, check out this slide show from The Huffington Post of Cute Zoo Animals Eating Birthday Cake.

It might help you take your mind off the election. It helped me.

Hippos! Yay!