Just watched the final episode. So, so good. I miss it already.
Last one to leave the barn, turn out the lights.
Category: TV
The Dan market
"My voice is a signal calling out"
Let’s see, what’ve I been consuming lately?
- The season finale of True Blood was pretty good, but I’ll be curious to see if they can keep it up another season.
- I don’t even know why I still enjoy Entourage (beyond the obvious Piven-ness) but I do.
- The new Fembots album Calling Out is very good.
- As much as I can’t wait to watch the final two episodes of The Shield, I really don’t want it to end.
- I’ve watched four movies in the past couple of weeks: Monkey Warfare (very Parkdale-indie), You Kill Me (ridiculous and implausible, but fun), L’Enfant (realistic, troubling and bleak) and Rails & Ties (predictable, melodramatic and wooden at times).
- Lots of hockey and basketball too, but both my teams are slumping right now, so…yeah. Lots of Wii tennis.
- The Future of Management by Gary Hamel was a very good book if you’re ever wondering why we’ve spent the last century innovating new business practices, but not new management practices.
"Is Spongebob Squarepants supposed to be terrifying?"
While the rest of the world was watching the US election Tuesday night, Nellie and I couldn’t stop ourselves from watching The Shield. As great as the show has been, the recent winner of Salon’s “Buffy” award has stepped up its game again in recent episodes. Now in the final season, the show is well into endgame mode, and I can barely stand waiting for each new episode. Best drama on TV right now.
I only qualify that, of course, because 30 Rock is the best comedy on TV right now. Last week’s episode was funny; this week’s was funnier. Kenneth alone made me laugh out loud half a dozen times tonight.
Still with TV, True Blood has gotten better, or maybe I’ve just gotten used to it. The first couple of episodes I was only mildly interested, but I’m enjoying it now. Wish they’d let Rene talk more though.
Things I've learned in the past 24 hours
- I’m getting sick. Not enough to make me feel like I need to stay in bed, but enough to drain me of all energy and motivation to, you know, move.
- The Rob Zombie remake of Halloween (imdb | rotten tomatoes) started off better than I expected, in that it gave us a Michael Myers preview, but the remake part was just standard slasher fare. The only thing I liked better about it than the original was that Myers moved like a normal guy…fast sometimes, normal speed the rest of the time, instead of at a slow zombie pace.
- Sometimes our cats will sleep quietly through the night. Other times they will stage a Bob Fosse revival on our bed at 3AM. Last night was the latter.
- We need a new coffee table and over-sized (but not too over-sized) chair, but aren’t having much luck finding them. Lo and behold, I read this in Thursday’s issue of Now, and figure we should give it a try.
- Even when the Canadiens are down 4-1 going into the third period, I should still finish watching the game, especially when it’s against a soft team like the Islanders. The Habs scored 4 goals in the third period and won. They’re playing .850 hockey so far this season, the best of any team in the NHL.
- The Raptors look pretty good, having won their third in a row to remain perfect in this young season. Bosh looks better with O’Neal there to take the pressure off, Bargnani looks better coming off the bench than he does starting, Calderon looks better without the T.J. Ford of Damocles hanging over his head, and Kapono just looks better. But the defense is what seemed different last night…not all the time, but a lot of the time. Players like Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson have carved through the Raptors like butter in recent years, but last night, the Raps seemed to challenge more. Anyway, we’ll see how they fare against real competition like the Celtics or Lakers.
- John McCain isn’t funny.
Your honor, I'd like to refer to the case of Leah Remeni vs. Kevin James
I like Life. Not just the state of being, mind you; the NBC show too. If you haven’t watched the first season, you should. Charlie Crews (played by the remarkable Damien Lewis) is one of the more interesting characters on TV. The second season has been okay too, but as with all shows based on the concept of a single season, it’s lost some steam. Still, I’ll keep watching on the strength of Lewis, the writing and Crews’ partner Dani Reese, played by my girlfriend du jour Sarah Shahi.
It’s Shahi that’s prompted me to write this actually. For those of you who actually watch the show but aren’t caught up, or plan to watch it some day, stop reading now: there be spoilers here. The rest of you, who saw the most recent episode, can join me in saying, “Dear NBC: what the hell ass balls would prompt a character played by Sarah Shahi, surely one of the most stunning women on the planet, to be attracted to — let alone kiss — a character played by Donal Logue, a nice guy and fine actor to be certain, but whose attractiveness maxes out around “shlubby” and who is regrettably done up here as a smarmy greaseball?” Please refer to the equation below for more detail:
Now, I know this isn’t NBC’s fault. This, and the dozens of situations like this we see on TV every day, is the chauvinistic byproduct of a male-dominated writers guild, but surely NBC has someone on staff who could call foul on the play when the imbalance is this silly. The lunacy used to be contained to sitcoms. Alas, the sickness has spread.
Lullaby Haze
Tonight: blogging in delicious bite-sized portions.
- The new Mates of State is very good. Maybe not Bring It Back awesome, but very good.
- We’re going to try to do Nuit Blanche this year. That should be interesting…I’ll basically get home, sleep for most of Sunday and then go to a Leafs game. Yes, a Leafs game. Normally I wouldn’t go but it’s a work thing, so I’ll just have to try to scrub off the dirty feelings and record lots of Canadiens highlights to watch when I get home, lest all the patheticness get lodged in my brain.
- My brother just sent me this link, which made me puke and shit a little at the same time. That’s right, it made me shuke. Behold: lobster ice cream.
- The Economist asked people around the world who they’d choose if they could vote in the American election. The results: awfully blue.
- Paste Magazine reviewed the 10th anniversary edition DVD set of Sports Night. I know I’ve said it eleventy million times, but really…go watch it. So good. Stick it out through the first few episodes when they forced Sorkin to use a laugh track.
- My debate plan this evening: watch the Canadian election debate but keep the picture-in-picture tuned to the American VP debate. If Sarah Palin gets that scared fawn look in her eyes, I’m flippin’.
See? Tasty!
I am an extraordinary thief
The new TV On The Radio starts out strong but then fizzles. The new HBO show True Blood is okay but not great, and a far cry from the likes of The Wire, Deadwood or The Sopranos. Federal elections on both sides of the border leave me cold as candidate after candidate spew the safest tripe and make a supreme effort to not say or do anything that might get notices. I adore how Christopher Hitchens explains why God Is Not Great but it ultimately feels hollow because I know only other atheists will read the book. The new Kings of Leon is like a jelly doughnut: tasty around the edges but squishy in the middle. The first episode of Heroes was rubbish, not that I expected otherwise. Fall is setting in and the sky is already turning that shade of gray that sticks around all winter.
Dear world…excitement: please give me it. Or at least inspire me to manufacture some of my own. Maybe have a radioactive spider bite me or have my condo building taken over by Hans Gruber.
[tags]tv on the radio, true blood, christopher hitchens, kings of leon, heroes[/tags]
Now what?
Ummm, yeah. So I’m done blogging about the MBA. And TIFF is over for another year. So what the hell do I talk about now?
Well, last night we got the remnants of a hurricane. Which was fun. And this morning the American financial system fucking melted. Happy trails, Lehman Brothers. You too Merrill Lynch. Say hello to Bear Stearns for us. Here’s hoping AIG can get up off the mat. Me, I spent the day trying to catch up at the office and wondering how the ass balls I can tame my inbox.
And here’s what’s coming up: Canadiens training camp. A Mogwai concert. A Toronto FC game next weekend. Volo’s cask days. Drinks with two friends and a cousin (all at different times…they don’t know each other) that I’ve been putting off for a while. Dinner with T-Bone. Long overdue blog template redesign. The “some day” category on my RTM task list. PVR annihilation, especially the stuff recorded back in December. Listening (finally) to the following:
- bonnie prince billy . lie down in the light
- coldplay . viva la vida or death and all his friends
- frightened rabbit . sing the greys
- kings of leon . only by the night
- lightspeed champion . falling of the lavender bridge
- mates of state . re-arrange us
- mgmt . oracular spectacular
- mogwai . the hawk is howling
- nick + norah’s infinite playlist . original soundtrack
- okkervil river . the stand-ins
- spiritualized . songs in a & e
- tv on the radio . dear science
- walkmen . you & me
- witch . paralyzed
- wolf parade . at mount zoomer
Reviews:
- I watched a few minutes of J.J. Abrams’ new show Fringe and that was enough. I liked Cloverfield and all but I want nothing to do with the dude’s shows.
- The jury’s still out on the new HBO show True Blood. Alan Ball: good. Vampires: boring. Anna Paquin: less hot than I expected. Rutina Wesley, who plays her best friend: my new girlfriend du jour.
- Bon Iver: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
[tags]tiff, lehman brothers, merrill lynch, canadiens, mogwai, toronto fc, volo cask days, fringe, cloverfield, true blood, anna paquin, rutina wesley, bon iver[/tags]
We interrupt this river of films…
Quick TIFF timeout to point out the latest winner of Salon’s “Buffy” award, given annually to the show they feel is most under-appreciated. Past winners:
- The Wire
- Veronica Mars
- Battlestar Galactica
- Friday Night Lights
This year’s winner is The Shield. Just as I’ve applauded their other choices, for trying to save endangered shows which we loved dearly, I applaud this one. I’ve been telling people for years it’s one of the best shows on TV, stepping over the bloated carcass of cop/detective shows. Michael Chiklis’ Vic Mackey is one of the most interesting characters on TV. If you haven’t watched it yet, go get the DVDs. Canadian viewers: the new season starts on Showcase this week. American viewers are a week ahead of us.
[tags]salon, buffy award, the shield[/tags]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 