Terra Nomad

Every day is like survival. You're my lover, not my rival.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Winter TV

Chuck - back January 10th
Lost - back February 2nd
Parenthood - Premieres March 1st

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Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Couch Potato 3


Continuing these two posts, a list of all the shows I watched regularly from the last two years. I think the best new show of 2009 is Modern Family.

2008         
* Chocolate News
* Do Not Disturb
* Free Radio
* Fringe
* Kath & Kim (US)
* My Own Worst Enemy
* Parking Wars



* Welcome to The Captain
* Worst Week

2009         

* Better Off Ted
* Bored to Death

* The Goode Family [anim]
* Hoarders
* Modern Family


* Parks and Recreation
* Sit Down, Shut Up (US) [anim]

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

2009 Fall TV (my version)

Here's what I plan to watch record:

9-12 Sit Down, Shut Up - FOX

9-13 King of the Hill - FOX

9-17 Survivor: Samoa - CBS
Fringe - Fox
The Office, Community, Parks & Rec, SNL Thursday - NBC
It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia - FX

9-20 Curb Your Enthusiasm - HBO
Bored to Death - HBO

9-21 Brick City - Sundance
How I Met Your Mother - CBS
Big Bang Theory - CBS

9-23 Old Christine - CBS
Modern Family - ABC

9-24 Grey's Anatomy - ABC
Flash Forward - ABC

9-25 Law & Order - NBC

9-26 SNL - NBC

9-27 Amazing Race - CBS
Simpsons, Family Guy, Cleveland Show - FOX
Extreme Makeover: Home - ABC

10-14 South Park - Comedy Central

10-15 30 Rock - NBC

11-03 V - ABC

Midseason: Scrubs, Lost, Chuck

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Tuesday, September 02, 2008

2008 Fall TV

Sept 2 - Bones
Sept 9 - Fringe
Sept 10 - Do Not Disturb
Sept 13 - MadTV and SNL
Sept 17 - Manswers
Sept 18 - It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Sept 22 - Heroes and CBS Mondays
Sept 23 - Opportunity Knocks
Sept 24 - The New Adventures of Old Christine and Gary Unmarried
Sept 25 - Survivor and NBC Thursday Night
Sept 29 - Chuck
Oct 9 - Kath and Kim and SNL Weekend Update Thursday
Oct 13 - My Own Worst Enemy
Oct 15 - South Park
Oct 30 - 30 Rock
Nov 2 - Surviving Suburbia

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Thursday, May 29, 2008

Summer TV

May 19 - The Bachelorette - ABC
May 20 - Not Going Out - BBC America
May 22 - Last Comic Standing -NBC and Reno 911 - Comedy Central
June 1 - Code Monkeys - G4
June 2 - The Mole - ABC
June 3 - 30 Days - FX
June 5 - Swingtown - CBS
June 8 - Law & Order: Criminal Intent - USA
July 1- The Secret Life of the American Teenager -ABC Family
July 1- Not Going Out Season 2 - BBC America
July 13- Big Brother -CBS
July 13- Picture This -ABC Family
July 17 - Reality Bites Back - Comedy Central
July 21- Wanna Bet? -ABC
July 27- Jingles - CBS

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Monday, February 18, 2008

When is my show coming back?

Zap2It tells you when your shows are coming back now that the writer's strike is over.

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Friday, December 28, 2007

Random Quotes about TV and Movies

"90210" was all about teens behaving like adults. "Melrose" was the opposite. It started with a group of adults--doctors, advertising executives, fashion designers--and dared to have them behave as foolishly and as naively as adolescents. - Malcolm Gladwell

I have observed before that giant corporations have replaced Nazis as dependable movie villains. - Roger Ebert in the review of Robots

It's fun even as it's tense, and it's smart all the time. So smart that some reviewers have no clue what they're seeing. - Hat Rack talking about Firefly

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Thursday, December 06, 2007

Couch Potato (2)

Here are some additions to this post, basically a list of any show I have watched regularly.

2006
The Loop
My Boys

2007
Andy Barker, P.I.
Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?
The Big Bang Theory
Carpoolers
Cavemen
Chuck
Don't Forget the Lyrics
I Hate My 30's
Kid Nation
The Sarah Silverman Program
Thank God You're Here

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Couch Potato

Here are all the TV shows I have ever watched with any regularity. None of these should be viewed as an endorsement. It was actually painful to admit watching some of these.

Epguides.com was a big help for me in compiling this list, especially their list of shows by year. They have a current grid of primetime lineups and it includes shows currently on hiatus, with an expected return to air date. They even have some RSS feeds for newly added shows and cancellations.

1959 - Twilight Zone
1960 - Flintstones
1962 - Beverly Hillbillies
1964 - Addams Family (73?)
Bewitched
Gilligan's Island
Munsters
1965 - I Dream of Jeannie
1966 - Batman
1972 - M*A*S*H
1974 - Happy Days
Little House on the Prarie
1975 - Jeffersons
One Day at a Time
Saturday Night Live
Wonder Woman
1976 - Alice
Laverne and Shirley
Quincy, M.E.
1977 - Fantasy Island
Incredible Hulk
Love Boat
Three's Company
1978 - Dallas
Different Strokes
Mork and Mindy
WKRP in Cincinnatti
1979 - Dukes of Hazzard
Facts of Life
Hart to Hart
Knot's Landing
1980 - Bosom Buddies
1981 - Falcon Crest

1982 - Cheers
Family Ties
Knight Rider
Newhart
Remington Steele

1983 - GI Joe
He-Man
Mama's Family
Scarecrow and Mrs. King

1984 - Cosby Show
Double Trouble
Night Court
Transformers
Who's the Boss

1985 - Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Amazing Stories
Golden Girls
Growing Pains
Jem
Moonlighting
Mr. Belvedere

1986 - Designing Women
Head of the Class
It's Gary Shandling's Show
LA Law
My Sister Sam
Perfect Strangers

1987 - Beauty and the Beast
Degrassi Junior High
A Different World
Full House
My Two Dads
Out of This World
Star Trek TNG
thirtysomething

1988 - China Beach
C.O.P.S
Dear John
Empty Nest
Just the Ten of Us
Roseanne
Whose Line is it Anyway (UK)
Wonder Years

1989 - Coach
Doogie Howser, M.D.
Life Goes On
Saved by the Bell
Seinfeld
Simpsons
Young Riders

1990 - Beverly Hills 90210
Blossom
Bobby's World
Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Law and Order
Northern Exposure
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Wings

1991- Civil Wars
Dinosaurs
Homefront
Home Improvement
The Ren and Stimpy Show
Rugrats
Sisters
The Torkelsons

1992 - Are You Afraid of the Dark?
Mad About You
Melrose Place
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles

1993 - Class of '96
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman
Frasier
Grace Under Fire
Living Single
Lois & Clark
The Nanny (US)
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

1994 - Chicago Hope
The Critic
Duckman
These Friends of Mine / Ellen
ER
Friends
Inside the Actors Studio
Models Inc.
My So-Called Life (entire series)
Party of Five
Space Ghost Coast to Coast
The Tick (1994)

1995 - The Bonnie Hunt Show
Caroline in the City
Central Park West
Dexter's Laboratory
The Drew Carey Show
Earthworm Jim
Freakazoid!
Hope & Gloria
Ned and Stacey
NewsRadio
Pinky and the Brain
The Single Guy
Star Trek: Voyager

1996 - Boston Common
Early Edition
Everybody Loves Raymond
Hey Arnold!
Kenan & Kel
Men Behaving Badly (US)
Suddenly Susan
3rd Rock From the Sun

1997 - Ally McBeal
Angry Beavers
Cow and Chicken
Daria
Dharma & Greg
E! True Hollywood Story
Fired Up
Just Shoot Me
King of the Hill
The Practice
South Park
Veronica's Closet
The Visitor
Working

1998 - Bob and Margaret
Conrad Bloom
Dawson's Creek
Felicity
The King of Queens
Lateline
Powerpuff Girls
Sex and the City
Sports Night (entire series)
That '70s Show
True Life
Whose Line Is It Anyway? (US)
The Wild Thornberrys
Will & Grace

1999 - Dilbert
Family Guy
Freaks and Geeks (entire series)
Futurama (entire series)
Home Movies
It's Like, You Know...
Jack & Jill
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
The League of Gentlemen
Popular
Providence
SpongeBob SquarePants
Stark Raving Mad
Strangers with Candy
Zoe, Duncan, Jack and Jane

2000 - Big Brother
Boston Public
Clerks
Coupling
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dark Angel
Queer as Folk (US)
Survivor
TV Funhouse

2001 - The Amazing Race
Aqua Teen Hunger Force
Dinner for Five
Fairly OddParents
Grounded for Life
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
The Oblongs
Primetime Glick
Scrubs
Six Feet Under
The Tick (2001)
24
Undeclared

2002 - Andy Richter Controls the Universe
Firefly (entire series)
George Lopez
Good Morning Miami
Less Than Perfect
Life with Bonnie
The Osbournes
Still Standing

2003 - Arrested Development
Coupling (US)
Last Comic Standing
Miss Match
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy
Reno 911!
Star Wars: Clone Wars

2004 - The Apprentice (first 1.5 seasons)
Blow Out
Entourage
Joey
life as we know it
Lost
Quintuplets
Significant Others (2004)
Wonderfalls (entire series)

2005 - Grey's Anatomy
How I Met Your Mother
The Office (US)
True Life

2006
The Class
Heroes
How to Get the Guy
Lovespring International
The New Adventures of Old Christine
The Nine
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
10 Items or Less
30 Rock
Three Moons Over Milford

2007
The Sarah Silverman Program

248 so far

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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Frigid TV

Tonight, Matt Lauer is on Leno and Jim Gaffigan is on Conan.

The Thursday Comedies are all new again this week:
My Name Is Earl "Kept a Guy Locked in a Truck"
The Office "The Return"
Scrubs "My Musical"
30 Rock "The Head and The Hair"

Both Heroes and Studio 60 air new episodes on January 22nd, and Lost returns February 7th, and promises 16 straight weeks of new episodes. Survivor Fiji starts up on February 8th with 19 castaways and The Amazing Race shows up February 18th with an All Star cast. Besides David and Mary, none of the teams stand out to me as anyone I rooted for in the past.

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Thursday, October 26, 2006

Fall Tv - Studio 60 and HIMYM

Tv Squad reviews this week's episodes of Studio 60 and How I Met Your Mother, two of my can't-miss shows. I thought this week's Wrap Party episode of Studio 60 was the best one yet. This show has reminded me of how much I miss Sports Night and need to watch more West Wing. Aaron Sorkin's writing hits such a chord with me, sometimes it's scary.

But, this week was not such a good one for How I Met Your Mother. I think the Brunch and Ted's Parents episodes were much better. I've been watching LOST, Heroes and The Nine as well. The last two are following a LOST type of story with a large group of people, some evil, where each one of them has different pieces to the puzzle. In fact, the cop on Heroes was the Pilot on LOST and two main characters from The Nine have been in 24. But, the connection I missed most was Sarah Paulson and Amanda Peet both being on Studio 60, when they both starred in Jack & Jill. The third girl on that show, Jamie Pressly is now hilarious on My Name is Earl.

One last thing, that commercial where Alec Baldwin asks Tina Fey when he gets to "meet" Aaron Sorkin bothers me. They worked together on Malice, so I'm pretty sure they've met.

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Wednesday, July 19, 2006

True Commercial Genius

"Because you can't over love your underwear" - Fruit of the Loom

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Friday, July 07, 2006

NewsRadio

NewsRadio is coming to Nick at Nite, so you really should read the show's quotes page on IMDB. The first one, about the complaint box had me crying with laughter this morning.

Dave: I don't think I get this one, it says, "I try to be good hard-worker-man, but refrigemater so messy, so so messy."
Lisa: I think that one's probably from Milos, the janitor.

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Wednesday, July 05, 2006

101 things in 1001 days

My list of 101 things to do in 1001 days
Which I stole from Triplux and many others.


My dates are 06/12/2006 to 03/8/2009
  1. Go to Europe (DONE May 07)
  2. Turn thirty (DONE 6/22/07)
  3. Buy a condo or house
  4. Take a Papermaking or other art class (DONE 12/13/06)
  5. Declare a major
  6. See Los Angeles (DONE 6/22/06)
  7. See Seattle
  8. Own all of my Top Ten movies of the year (In progress, lists made...)
  9. Either ride Ripchord or Bungee Jump or Skydive
  10. Compile a list of my 100 favorite songs
  11. See some petroglyphs
  12. Take an official tour of a city, even if it just Minneapolis (DONE - Berlin 3/25/08)
  13. Organize my CDs, both music and computer (DONE 7/20/06)
  14. Whiten my teeth (DONE June 07)
  15. Go to The Science Museum (DONE 6/25/08)
  16. Finish a short story - one that is started or a brand new one
  17. Take Writing 2 (DONE Dec 07)
  18. Make an informative opening page for soelo.com (DONE)
  19. Update all of my other websites
  20. Get on a schedule - more than just "work school sleep work tv sleep"
  21. Set aside an arts and crafts area in home
  22. Get a dishwasher and washing machine in apartment/condo (DONE 7/3/06)
  23. Read at least 33 books (one per month) (DONE Sept 2008)
  24. See a live play
  25. Host at least one Geekfest
  26. Go to a live KOL meeting
  27. Attend a convention or show at a convention center
  28. Put something on soelo.com in addition to my blog (DONE)
  29. See a Panda Bear (in captivity, most likely) (DONE 3/24/08)
  30. Keep a daily journal - about boring stuff that only I care about
  31. Buy more wine and learn which wineries I like (DONE)
  32. Learn to make a wine spritzer that I like (DONE Nov 06)
  33. Attempt to improve my handwriting (DONE, but just the attempt)
  34. Drive along the west coast (DONE June 18-21, 2006)
  35. Compile my own "pantry list" and have it complete in my kitchen at least once (list done)
  36. Go to a local festival that is not in Minneapolis or St. Cloud
  37. Take a trip somewhere using only public non-airplane transportation (i.e. bus, train, helicopter, taxi)
  38. Make and use a Christmas Card List (has to be08)
  39. Knit, crochet or sew something nice enough to wear in public - and wear it.
  40. Make one birthday or Christmas gift
  41. Go Snow Tubing somewhere official, with tube rental and lift
  42. Post to my blog on 87% of the days in a month. (27/31) (Done Dec 07)
  43. Have at least one book made from my photos
  44. Take multi-vitamins regularly (In Progress)
  45. Organize a real scavenger hunt
  46. Volunteer
  47. Fill the tank with gas - drive till it’s half gone, take pictures, and then come back (DONE 10/11/08)
  48. Make a scrapbook of all my travels (In Progress)
  49. Learn to make homemade chai (DONE Oct 06)
  50. Read a book on Arthurian Legend
  51. Memorize 'If' by Rudyard Kipling (DONE July 31, 2006)
  52. Journalize my time from age 18 to 28
  53. Finish my Interests inventory
  54. Learn something about everything
  55. Learn everything about something
  56. Make a nice long blogroll (DONE - via rss and gmail)
  57. Get my car's rear axle fixed (DONE June 12, 2006)
  58. Try ordering groceries online (DONE Jan 08)
  59. Take 3 additional classes (not writing or papermaking) (In progress - Politics)
  60. Update my immunizations (DONE 8/7/08)
  61. Go on a blind date (DONE Sept 07)
  62. Go on a real date (with someone I know or meet, not a fix-up) (DONE July 07)
  63. Get email archives down to below 100 (I don't think I will ever do this)
  64. Get rss archives down to below 100 (DONE)
  65. Set up bill-paying plan or auto-pay
  66. Have either the bio-hazard symbol or my name in Hebrew tattooed on my arm
  67. Attend a yoga class
  68. Draw one comic strip, and post it. (Dialogue and background done for 2)
  69. Move all stuff in storage into apartment. (In Progress, there are still about 25 boxes in my friend's basement)
  70. Set up scanner (DONE Nov 30, 06)
  71. Finish scanning pictures
  72. Organize those pictures
  73. Print out / archive my blog (archiving started June 06)
  74. Tag most of my blog entries (DONE Dec 27, 2006)
  75. Ponder a change of blog format/host
  76. Reduce paper clutter / handle paper monster
  77. Organize my books and list the ones I own but haven't read (DONE 07/02/07)
  78. Go to the Como Zoo (DONE May 07)
  79. Travel the Grand Rounds
  80. Buy and use a Tetsubin (DONE June 06)
  81. Check out and read 3 books from the Minneapolis Public Library
  82. See all 128 episodes of Dawson's Creek in order. (started on June 25th, 2006, stopped after Mitch died)
  83. Rent a game console and games for a week (Done sort of, got a PS2 and played Katamari)
  84. Hold the water taste test for my friends
  85. Finish the small painting and hang it somewhere (In Progress. It's abstract, so it is hung but not finished.)
  86. Get a passport (DONE May 16th, 2007)
  87. Make a significant contribution to a Wikipedia article (DONE on Eragon Live in summer 07)
  88. Get one KOL character to 50 ascensions (In Progress, soelo is at 27)
  89. Make cookies from scratch (DONE July 08)
  90. Make another dessert from scratch
  91. Make an entire meal (entree, two sides and a beverage) myself (DONE Feb 07)
  92. Purge the clothes I no longer wear
  93. Make an asian noodle dish in my wok (DONE May 08)
  94. Play board games with my friends (DONE)
  95. Build a Sandcastle
  96. Retake Calculus 2 (DONE Aug 08)
  97. Flirt with a stranger (DONE)
  98. Use craigslist for something (DONE Jan 07 - my apartment ... and again in Sept 07 where I found my boyfriend)
  99. Get some more videos for my ipod (DONE)
  100. Get contact lenses and wear them
  101. Purge my videotapes

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Monday, June 26, 2006

Futurama

is coming back! They announced it on my birthday, and the new episodes will begin airing in 2008.

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Thursday, May 04, 2006

Season Finales - (the ones that matter)

May 11th - My Name is Earl and The Office
May 14th - Survivor, L&O:CI, Grey's Anatomy (Part 1)
May 15th - How I Met Your Mother, Grey's Anatomy (Part 2)
May16th - Scrubs
May17th - The Amazing Race
May 18th - That 70's Show and Will & Grace both air their Series Finales
May19th - Numb3rs
May 21st - Simpsons, Family Guy
May 22nd - King of Queens, 24
May 24th - Lost

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Monday, January 09, 2006

TV

24 starts next Sunday, January 15th and Monday, January 16th from 7-9pm Central time.

Since I got my DVR, I've been watching more of the following shows:
Daria
Grounded for Life
Home Movies
Futurama
MadTV/SNL
Grey's Anatomy
Arrested Development
How I Met your Mother
Entourage
Blow Out
Queer Eye

And AOL provides a midseason schedule for new and returning shows.

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Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Random

Now this is a Funny Picture.

I got cable installed yesterday, along with a DVR and 6 months of HBO and Showtime. I hope to catch Love Actually this month, since it's a holiday movie.

My last Drawing class was on Monday, and I think I did pretty well. Next up is Environmental History and Modernism (a literature class). Maybe I should decide on a major soon. I will only have 2 generals left after those two classes.

I am trying to get 'organized' while I have some time off of school and a small amount of time off of work. What that means, I am not really sure... some weird combination of FlyLady, GTD and my own systems, I guess.

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Friday, December 02, 2005

Office, Earl move to Thursdays and Scrubs returns!

TV Squad alerted me to this release from NBC that tells us that, starting in January, My Name is Earl and The Office are moving to Thursday and that Scrubs will now be on from 8-9 Central on Thursdays. Hmm, where have I heard that idea before? I am surprised that Joey won't be back until after the Olympics and that NBC still only has 3 hours of prime time comedy programming per week.
Um, weren't the Olympics just on like 15 months ago? Oh that's right, now we get this "joy" every two years instead of four. I thought we had special sports channels on cable so that people who wanted to watch sports could tune to those and that network tv could continue it's normal schedule.

NBC's new mid-season schedule, which begins January 2, follows (all times
ET); new series are in upper case (except "ER"):

  • Mondays 8-9 p.m. "Surface" 9-10 p.m. "Las Vegas" 10-11 p.m. "Medium"
  • Tuesdays 8-9 p.m. "Fear Factor" 9-9:30 p.m. "Scrubs" 9:30-10 p.m. "Scrubs"
    10-11 p.m. "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit"
  • Wednesdays 8-9 p.m. "E-Ring" 9-10 p.m. "The Biggest Loser: Special Edition"
    (new title) 10-11 p.m. "Law & Order"
  • Thursdays 8-8:30 p.m. "Will & Grace" 8:30-9 p.m. "FOUR KINGS" 9-9:30
    p.m. "My Name Is Earl" 9:30-10 p.m. "The Office" 10-11 p.m. "ER"
  • Fridays 8-9 p.m. "MOST OUTRAGEOUS TV MOMENTS" 9-10 p.m. "Dateline NBC" 10-11 p.m. "THE BOOK OF DANIEL"
  • Saturdays Movies and variable programming
  • Sundays 7-8 p.m. "Dateline NBC" 8-9 p.m. "The West Wing" 9-10 p.m. "Law
    & Order: Criminal Intent" 10-11 p.m. "Crossing Jordan"

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Friday, November 18, 2005

Save Arrested Development

at SaveArrestedDevelopment.com because it's anything but your typical sitcom.

Seriously - how many sitcoms fit into one of these molds?

A two-parent household with 2 or 3 kids (Oh the trials of raising a family! Hey, my husband hates his job and we have ungrateful kids, too! I love this show!)

A gaggle of friends who work together, live together, then finally end up sleeping together. (You'll never make a copy that is better than the original, so stop trying)

An office where people spend 95% of their time socializing and throwing witty banter around in meetings and 5% of their time working.

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Thursday, October 06, 2005

Honda Galang

MIA's 'Galang' is the song playing in the background of that cool Honda commercial with the red car flying around the city.

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4 8 15 16 23 42 Execute

I almost missed last night's third episode of Lost since my TV was not getting ABC over the air. Luckily, I went to a friend's house who has a DVR and saw it.

Check out this Lost Timeline, which is obviously very spoilery if you haven't seen a particular episode. One thing I learned from it was that both Hurley and Locke's mom were institutionalized in the same place.

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Monday, October 03, 2005

Which Serenity character are you?


You scored as Zoe Alleyne Washburne. The Soldier. You are the second in command, and that is fine. You like a chain of command, but only when the one in charge has earned your respect. Those who earn your love or loyalty will find no one better to guard their back.

Which Serenity character are you?
created with QuizFarm.com

*I was busy this weeked so I haven't seen the movie yet, but I've heard great things*

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Wednesday, August 31, 2005

Puttin' on the Hits

Do you still have nightmares about a man with an orangutan puppet around his neck when you hear the song 'Guitarzan'? If you have any clue what I am talking about, you remember the lip synch game show from the early 80's, Puttin' on the Hits, with your fabulous host Allen Fawcett:



He now has that typical former star look (slightly bigger head, still too-large hair and pain-hiding smile) and held a show at the Palace Station in Vegas.


But seriously, I loved this show and can still hear him saying, "... a perfect score of 30!"

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Friday, August 26, 2005

Sean Astin on 24

Scooter's comment is right on:

This must have you in an absolute frenzy:

Astin making '24' debut in 4-hour opener Reuters -

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Sean Astin, who starred in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is joining the cast of Fox's real-time drama "24," which will again kick off its season with four episodes screening on two consecutive nights.


I really can't take a Monday class in January, since there is no way I can miss that.

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Friday, August 19, 2005

Why on Earth are you watching that show?

Reunion premieres September 8 - Mathew St. Patrick may be the only reason I am tuning in to this murder mystery chronicling the last 20 years. I also wonder how they are going to handle aging these people from 18 to 38.

Simpsons premieres September 11 - I read an article between one and two years ago that said some of the old writers were coming back, and the series was expected to improve again, since most consider its quality to have waned. Using data from IMDB, it looks as though the only person to have returned to directing after a hiatus is David Silverman, who directed 19 episodes in seasons 1-7, and then one each in 14 and 16. As far as the writers, it looks like the only people with significant spaces between credited episodes are George Meyer and (1-5 and 10-13) and Jon Vitti (1-5, 7, 13, 15-16). So where is this resurgence of talent from the old days?

Survivor: Guatemala premieres September 15 - Rumors abound that Steph and Bobby John from the last season are going to reappear this season, since the original number was said to be 18, and there are only 16 contestants on the official site. Jamie looks like the cute one this season, but I'll reserve judgment until I hear him speak.

Arrested Development premieres September 19 - Fox's site acts like the network has always championed the show and never treated it like a red-headed step-child. This year it gets a time slot that is less prone to being delayed by NFL overtime.

Kitchen Confidential premieres September 19 - the poor actors in this picture have been airbrushed so badly they look like wax figures! Seriously, the guy on the left Nicholas Brendan, a.k.a. Xander, does not have eyelids covered in hair, but the picture makes it look that way. It's also nice to see John Francis Daley (from Freaks & Geeks) in another show.

King of Queens premieres September 19 - a.k.a. Fat Guy, Skinny Wife #1, but Patton Oswald and Jerry Stiller make this one worth watching.

How I Met your Mother premieres September 19 - again, it might just be Jason Segel that makes me want to give this one a chance.

The Office premieres September 20 - I tried watching the BBC version, but it couldn't hold my interest. This American version does an excellent job with Steve Carell and Rainn Wilson providing some of the best cringe-worthy moments.

My Name is Earl premieres September 20 - Jason Lee playing Banky/Brodie about ten years older and after a spate of bad luck. Well, Mallrats was ten years ago, so it fits.

Lost premieres September 21 - Undoubtedly last year's best new show, I didn't get to see it as often (or as clearly) as I would have hoped, even though I did see the finale. Thankfully, Season 1 comes out on DVD September 6th. My favorite characters are Hurley and Sayid.

Still Standing premieres September 21 - a.k.a. Fat Guy, Skinny Wife #2, but this time it's their kids that make it worth watching.

Joey premieres September 22 - Another one I didn't see as often as I wanted to last year, but I don't think I missed much. It helped with the Friends withdrawals I was suffering.

Numb3rs premieres September 23 - I saw only two episodes of this last season, but my sister and mother have both insisted I will like it. Sabrina Lloyd from SportsNight is a bonus.

Grey's Anatomy premieres September 25 - I have never seen a second of this show, but I have read so much about it that I must start watching. I've always liked Sandra Oh and Patrick Dempsey.

L&O CI premieres September 25 - Chris Noth comes back as Mike Logan and partners with Annabella Sciorra in the fifth season.

Amazing Race premieres September 27 - Teams are now made up of four family members and travel fewer distances this season. The challenges are supposed to be more family friendly, the Yields more effective, and I wonder if we will see less inter-team bickering?

Will & Grace premieres September 29 - I find myself hoping that the eighth season will be the last one. Still a good show, but the reruns are often better than the new episodes.

That 70's Show premieres November 2 - This is the first season without Topher Grace and Ashton Kutcher, since they are 'big' movie stars now. The other four, Laura Prepon, Mila Kunis, Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama haven't really hit it big with any movies, which doesn't seem fair. I know they'd make much better stuff than "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton" and "A Lot Like Love". It's not that Grace and Kutcher didn't make great movies ("Traffic" and "The Butterfly Effect"), but I think the other four would do well in starring roles. Kunis does great as Meg on Family Guy.

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Wednesday, August 17, 2005

This Fall in Network Primetime

Starting at 7pm Central / 8pm Eastern

Monday:
ABC - Wife Swap - Monday Night Football (new lineup in January)
CBS - King of Queens(Sept19) / How I Met your Mother(Sept19) - Two and a Half Men / Out of Practice - CSI: Miami
FOX - Arrested Development(Sept19) / Kitchen Confidential(Sept19) - Prison Break
NBC - Surface - Las Vegas - Medium

Tuesday:
ABC - According to Jim / Rodney - Commander-in-Chief - Boston Legal
CBS - NCIS - Amazing Race(Sept27) - Close to Home
FOX - Bones - House M.D.
NBC - The Biggest Loser - My Name is Earl(Sept20) / The Office(Sept20) - L&O SVU

Wednesday:
ABC - George Lopez / Freddie - Lost(Sept21) - Invasion
CBS - Still Standing(Sept21) / Yes, Dear - Criminal Minds - CSI: New York
FOX - That 70's Show(Nov2) / Stacked - Head Cases
NBC - Apprentice: Martha Stewart - E-Ring - L&O

Thursday:
ABC - Alias - The Night Stalker - Primetime Live
CBS - Survivor: Guatemala(Sept15) - CSI - Without a Trace
FOX - The O.C. - Reunion(Sept8)
NBC - Joey(Sept22) / Will & Grace(Sept29) - Apprentice - ER

Friday:
ABC - Supernanny - Hope & Faith / Hot Properties - 20/20
CBS - Ghost Whisperer - Threshold - Numb3rs(Sept23)
FOX - Bernie Mac / Malcolm in the Middle - Killer Instinct
NBC - Three Wishes - Dateline NBC - Inconceivable

Saturday:
ABC - Movie
CBS - Crimetime Saturday - 48 Hour Mysteries
FOX - Cops - America's Most Wanted
NBC - Movie

Sunday:
ABC - Extreme Makeover: Home Edition - Desperate Housewives - Grey's Anatomy(Sept25)
CBS - Cold Case - Movie
FOX - Simpsons(Sept11) / The War at Home - Family Guy / American Dad
NBC - The West Wing - L&O CI(Sept25) - Crossing Jordan


*The purple shows are what I watch, plan to watch, or will admit to watching.
*It seems the networks' official sites understand they need to tell us what time and day these shows are on, but neglect to give us the dates they premiere. Epguides did that for me.
*No WB or UPN listings, they have nothing I watch from 7-10.
*Returning in 2006: 24 and Less Than Perfect

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Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Office Marathon tomorrow

On Wednesday, NBC is having a marathon of The Office where they will show four episodes: Pilot, Diversity Day, Health Care and Hot Girl. There were two more, The Alliance and Basketball, which the really should show instead of a L&O rerun. Odd thing is, I have seen those two episodes, and not much of the other four, so I will have seen all six by the time the new season starts.

Also, Thursday brings two Scrubs reruns in the 8E/7C time slot. That would be a great Thursday line up (Joey, W&G, Scrubs and The Office), 4 shows that can hold their own instead of two heavy hitters with two losers at the :30 time slots.

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Tuesday, August 09, 2005

You know those infomercials are lying to you, and here are some sites that prove it:

Kevin Trudeau is under an order by the FTC where he's only allowed to promote books, newletters, publications or non-branded products.

Don LaPre, has declared bankruptcy twice and has had many brushes with the law in regards to his "businesses".

Carleton Sheets seems to be selling bad advice, and has many people upset with billing problems.

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Monday, August 08, 2005

Wonderfalls

Jaye is near the breaking point and furiously asks the brass monkey in her shrink's office, "Why do you talk to me?" and his reply is a simple, "Because you listen."

Yes, there are talking animals in this show. Don't let that scare you away. Don't let the stiff, pinched-faced women who play her mother and sister scare you away either, or the Horrid Haircut who plays her brother. (I can tell you're almost convinced!)

There are runaway macaws, nuns, class reunions, liars, cheaters, fat guys named Pat, a sad delivery guy, an inept security guard, lesbians, a hostage-taker, a mail-order bride, a whole tribe of Seneca Indians, a fake documentarian, an injured father, a Canadian housekeeper, and a mouth-breathing manager. And then there is Jaye and her friends Mahandra and Eric, the really good parts of the show.

The closest thing I can come up with as a comparison would have to be Northern Exposure, with it's cast of eclectic townspeople and offbeat sense of humor. While not all episodes are exactly even, there are so many shows on right now that are so much worse than Wonderfalls. It succumbed to that all too familiar fate of many FOX shows and was cancelled after only 4 aired episodes. All 13 are on the DVD release, and complete the story arc quite nicely.

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Monday, August 01, 2005

July at 85

That's 85 MPH, not 85 degrees, since I have been enjoying the heat. It seems like July just started and it's already gone. For me, July consisted of the following (in no particular order):

-being unimpressed with the newly remodeled Walker Art Center
-going to Duluth on a slightly random Saturday
-falling behind on my Calc 2 homework, but holding my own on the tests
-eating at Erte, McCormick and Schmick's, It's Greek to Me and Tiburon
-trying to keep my apartment clean
-spending an afternoon on Medicine Lake, only sunburning my arms
-helping redo my mother's kitchen and bathroom (sanding, painting, tiling)
-not getting a good view of the fireworks downtown because MPD closed the Third St Bridge "for security purposes"
-intending to see Fantastic Four but ending up getting passes to The Island while standing in line (too much action ruins a good story)
-playing inselkampf, ItsYourTurn and KOL
-installing and playing Sims 2, passed on by my sister
-watching Disc 2 of Wonderfalls, the last three discs of Freaks & Geeks, and all of Entourage: Season 1
-work, school, sleep

Over the next three months, I have a record setting four weddings to attend. Two are cousins and the other two are friends, and all are at least an hour away. I'm not complaining, though, just marveling at how weddings always come in clumps.

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Tuesday, June 07, 2005

Firefly reruns on TV

FIREFLY (FOX) - The Sci Fi Channel has landed the repeat rights to all 15 hours of the short-lived FOX series (and basis of the upcoming "Serenity" feature film). The network's July schedule lists the series as joining its Friday lineup on July 22 at 7:00/6:00c where it will precede original episodes of "Stargate SG-1," "Stargate Atlantis" and "Battlestar Galactica."

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Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Oh please, oh please

Monday, May 23, 2005

24: Season Finale

Dear God,
Please don't let Tony really be dead.
Thanks


Dear God,
Thanks for bringing him back, now please don't let Jack be dead!

Okay, cool.

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Monday, March 14, 2005

Entertainment Miscellany

Arrested Development - Tv Squad has a post about last night's episode of this funny and unique show.

Check out Peerflix, a version of Netflix where you own the DVD, and can trade in ones you don't want anymore.

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Monday, February 07, 2005

24

I have been watching 24 again this season. I've seen all of the first and third seasons, but I couldn't finish watching the second. I drew myself a map of all the characters so far so I can keep track of everyone. My bet is that sometime during the season, Edgar becomes a hostage. He's the right kind of spineless but necessary guy that would end up in that situation. 24 is an anomaly for me because I don't like cop shows or political dramas. Law and Order is acceptable as filler if there is nothing else on, but don't go out of my way to watch it.

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Monday, August 23, 2004

I am 32 Flavors and then some

Ooh, a month without a post, my apologies. Much has happened. I moved and I finished Summer Semester. I got an A in both Writing and Trigonometry - yay! I still have to finish my 2 independent studies, though, and I start Acting and Calculus this week.

I went to Wild Mountain yesterday with two of my friends and we had a lot of fun on the alpine slide and go-karts. We certainly have a new summer tradition. We also went tubing down the Apple River in Wisconsin a few weeks ago. We've been doing that since 1999. I got to see my aunt and uncle from Vancouver, Wa last weekend. They were here to bring their daughter to college and look at houses, but they've decided not to move back :-(

Some of my stuff is still in storage, either in a storage unit or my friend's basement. It's like shopping every time I go to pick things up. I need to get the rest of my furniture out soon.

I don't have cable right now, so my hatred for the Olympics has increased since it is one of only 4 things I can watch. I don't even have internet, since the order for my phone service was put in wrong, and will hopefully be fixed by Thursday. So, although I do hate the Olympics, I have seen a lot of it because I watch the Today show in the morning. They're in Athens the whole time and it is cool to see so much of Greece. I really want to visit there, and now the infrastructure has been drastically improved. I think I should start going to every Olympic venue a year later.

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Thursday, May 06, 2004

Friends

Goodbye Friends

One of the best shows ever to be on television is ending today.

An hour long retrospective and then an hour long finale start at 7pm (Central) tonight. Like you didn't already know that! If you watch NBC or Bravo for more than 5 minutes, you'll see a promo for it and if you were watching it last night, you probably saw Matt Lauer (sigh) and Katie Couric go on about it for two hours. It was a good special with interviews of all six, bloopers and a family tree of sorts.

To me, 'Friends', along with Reality Bites, is the best reflection of life in the twenties. Dialogue, relationships, jokes, it all seems very authentic. The thing I have noticed lately is how much less loopy Phoebe has gotten over all ten seasons. The same seems true of Daphne on Frasier, who used to be psychic!

So, I will be riveted to my TV tonight, probably watching Survivor first and then 'Friends'. It seems about par for a Thursday night. Reluctantly, I predict a very short life span for 'Joey'. I will watch, but I doubt many people will, even when they do put it on Thursday. NBC should move Scrubs back to Thursday as well as keeping Will & Grace there. Then, throw one more new show in the mix and you can probably hold on to 'Must-See TV'. Please, please, please let next season be the last for ER. Let's try for a 9pm drama that doesn't have a doctor, lawyer or policeman in it! Wait, do those exist anymore?

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Goodbye Friends


Goodbye Friends

One of the best shows ever to be on television is ending today.

An hour long retrospective and then an hour long finale start at 7pm (Central) tonight. Like you didn't already know that! If you watch NBC or Bravo for more than 5 minutes, you'll see a promo for it and if you were watching it last night, you probably saw Matt Lauer (sigh) and Katie Couric go on about it for two hours. It was a good special with interviews of all six, bloopers and a family tree of sorts.

To me, 'Friends', along with Reality Bites, is the best reflection of life in the twenties. Dialogue, relationships, jokes, it all seems very authentic. The thing I have noticed lately is how much less loopy Phoebe has gotten over all ten seasons. The same seems true of Daphne on Frasier, who used to be psychic!

So, I will be riveted to my TV tonight, probably watching Survivor first and then 'Friends'. It seems about par for a Thursday night. Reluctantly, I predict a very short life span for 'Joey'. I will watch, but I doubt many people will, even when they do put it on Thursday. NBC should move Scrubs back to Thursday as well as keeping Will & Grace there. Then, throw one more new show in the mix and you can probably hold on to 'Must-See TV'. Please, please, please let next season be the last for ER. Let's try for a 9pm drama that doesn't have a doctor, lawyer or policeman in it! Wait, do those exist anymore?

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Friday, December 19, 2003

South Park

Cartman: "Well, I hate to say this Kyle, but maybe this is what your family gets for being Jewish at Christmastime"

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South Park

Funniest line from this week:
Cartman: Well, I hate to say this Kyle, but maybe this is what your family gets for being Jewish at Christmastime.

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Wednesday, November 12, 2003

TV on DVD

Sports Night - ABC and then Comedy Central - Written By Aaron Sorkin - Sabrina Lloyd (Natalie) and Joshua Malina (Jeremy), Felicity Huffman(Dana) and Peter Krause (Casey), Josh Charles (Dan) and Teri Polo (Rebecca) - Ted McGinley, Greg Baker- William H Macy (married to Huffman?) guest starred. I started watching this when it was on ABC. Whenever a fan talks about this show, it's usually something like, "I am not a sports fan at all, but the show isn't really about sports." It's a dramatic look at the making of a 'Sports Center'-like show, with a lot of comedy and some romance thrown in. Robert Guillaum plays Issac, the boss and father figure. He had a stroke during the show's run and they wrote it in to the series. It was cancelled after one and a half seasons Both Seasons are out on DVD in one set.


Six Feet Under - HBO - Peter Krause (Nate), Lauren Ambrose (Claire), Michael C Hall (David), Rachel Griffiths (Brenda), Frances Conroy (Ruth). A show about a family-run funeral home, Fisher & Sons. Peter Krause again shines as the central character who is uneasy about death and his own mortality, yet feels the need to help run the business after his fathers death. Each episode starts with someone's death, and the corpse usually ends up at Fisher & Sons. They have to contend with being a small fish in a big pond, and stand up to a conglomerate, Kroehner, that keeps trying to take them over. Ruth is the matriarch who plays the victim pretty well. Claire (my favorite) is the youngest child, the angst-ridden 17 year-old only daughter. David is the obedient middle-child who finally came out to his family after his father died. Keith is his on-again off-again boyfriend who has family problems of his own. Federico (you might have seen him in Can't Hardly Wait, with Lauren Ambrose) works at the funeral home to support his wife, Vanessa, and two kids. Nate's girlfriend, Brenda, brings a even crazier family into the mix. It gets complicated, but her parents are shrinks that enjoy screwing with people's heads and her brother Billy is just plain wacko (well, so is she). Her mother is my second favorite character and is played by Joanna Cassidy the boss from 'Don't Tell Mom The Babysitter's Dead'. Her character is hilarious! Robert Foxworth, aka Chase from Falcon Crest plays her father, but he's not much of a character.

Season One is out on DVD. I have also seen Season Two on VHS (from some friends), but there is no word on a DVD release date. I also saw a season 3 episode by accident, which has ruined some surprises for me.

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Tuesday, October 21, 2003

TV

On Sunday there was a great episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent. I just love Vincent D'Onofrio. The show has gotten a little formulaic, but it's still good. I used to watch the regular L&O, but since Benjamin Bratt left, it's just not the same. I was annoyed to find that NBC ran reruns on Thursday so they wouldn't lose to the baseball playoffs in the ratings. I understand when it's a playoff game, but when they preempt regular shows for plain old games, whether baseball, football or anything, I get so annoyed. Why do we have 85 sports channels if the networks are still airing the regular games? There were entire fall seasons in which Futurama was always joined "already in progress". That was mostly Fox's fault, in that 6pm Central on Sunday is a suckie time slot no matter what. Futurama should have been at 7:30 Central, right after the Simpsons. Instead they put crap like Malcolm in the Middle and Oliver Beene in that slot. At least Cartoon Network was smart enough to pick it up, even if they aren't airing anything new. Wake up, Simpsons can't and shouldn't go on forever. And you expect a live action sitcom to take it's place? Ain't gonna happen. King of the Hill is funny, but it's not an anchor to an entire night like The Simpsons is. Find some good and funny animation and make a night of it!

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Saturday, October 11, 2003

Random TV thoughts

Quote of the week: "The only thing she hates more than sobriety is kindness." about Karen on Will & Grace

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Thursday, October 09, 2003

TV

I think I watch the most television of anyone I know. I recently got a DVR from my cable company, and that has actually cut down on the amount a little. (For those who don't know, a DVR is a Digital Video Recorder - Tivo, Replay TV, etc. Basically, a digital VCR) I have wanted one for a long time. You can set things to be taped just once or every time the episode is on. I swear sometimes scheduled things just go away, though. A little annoying. Anyway, I always get the fall preview edition of TV Guide. It lays out a basic weekly schedule of all the new shows, as well as the returning ones. I plan my TV watching with this for the first few months. Right now, my week goes something like this:

Sunday - Futurama, Simpsons, Law and Order
Monday - Still Standing, Raymond
Tuesday - 70s Show, 24, Frasier, Good Morning Miami
Wednesday - Bachelor, King of Queens, South Park
Thursday - Friends, Scrubs, Will & Grace, Coupling, Survivor/Amazing Race
Friday - Miss Match, Grounded for Life, George Lopez
Saturday - SNL, Mad TV

Plus, during the day I tape several reruns of Friends, the Simpsons and Jeopardy. I also watch a lot of mid-level cable, like Travel Channel, Comedy Central, Game Show Network, Tech TV, DIY and HGTV. I wish the Travel Channel would stop being a 24 hour commercial for Vegas, that Comedy Central would have more stand-up and cancel The Man Show, and that GSN would put a Chuck Woolery limit on their daily broadcasts. All of these things would be fine in moderation (except maybe the Man Show, I was so disappointed with that. Don't they know you need a straight man and a foil, and that 2 foils just make for bad TV?) but they get to be too much.

Another thing that bothers me about TV is that the seasons tend to get shorter and shorter. I mean, there are regular shows, not mid-season replacements, that don't start until the end of October. Then there are shows that have their season finale in March! I always thought the TV season should line up with the school year, essentially starting in September and ending in June. Well, I heard that part of the reason there are fewer shows per season is that they're getting more expensive to produce. While that may be true, I don't think they should just shorten the season, or worse, start running reruns in October. I don't know how the Sweeps months got set up, but I think it's time for a change in TV scheduling. I propose a two season per year schedule. Each season would last about six months, maybe an Oct-March Season and an April-Sept. That way, CBS for example, could run Survivor for one of the seasons and The Amazing Race for the other, both in the Thursday 7pmCST "Midas Touch" time slot. The summer season could be used to test out shows that the networks aren't sure about, and if they are wildly successful, a la Friends, they can be moved to the fall season. You could still have a midseason replacement roster, and more turnover in shows would results in the networks being able to respond to trends faster and profit from all the kids that are home from school in the summer. These are some of my more general thoughts on TV. I will continue my TV ranting later, with more specific criticisms and raves.

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Wednesday, October 08, 2003

My Taste

Within a few months of getting to know me, most people tell me I have strange taste. Sometimes they say its bad taste, but usually it's more like "You like the oddest combinations of men." or "That's a rather eclectic music collection you've got there." When I say taste, I mean mostly music, movies, men, TV, books and the like, but also other things like food, home decor, video games and clothes. I would describe my tastes thusly: My taste in movies is decidedly girly, while I think my TV watching is pretty ungirly (with the exception of Felicity and Dawson's Creek - they are really good shows!). Music is probably the area where I like widest selection of things. Books are harder to pin down. And men, this is probably what people think is the strangest thing about me. So, the next few messages will be me pontificating on various taste related subjects.

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