Boo!

Boo!
Originally uploaded by gina64.

Oh, my eyes!!

Oh no, he didn't do it. Certainly not.

Sweet Jesus.

Guilty!

I've got Firefly on deck right now.

He's gay, Jim.

Not a big surprise, really. I LOVE the photo they used with the story, though.

Bad Week for Bush.

Who will be indicted today?

Looks like Scooter is the only one likely to take a bullet for the administration at this point, but I'm glad to hear that Rove is still under investigation.

These paragraphs in particular caught my attention, since they could have been written while reporting on any time of trouble during Bush's administration:

"Officials said that Mr. Bush, who traveled to Florida on Thursday to view the damage from Hurricane Wilma, would keep to his planned schedule today, including a speech on terrorism in Norfolk, Va., if indictments were announced.

Administration officials said that the White House would seek to keep as low a profile as possible if indictments were issued; Scott McClellan, the White House press secretary, did not schedule a briefing today, and Mr. Bush plans to leave in the afternoon for a weekend at Camp David."

When things start getting a little dicey politically, Bush loves to whip out that terrorism card and wave that flag. And go on vacation.

It's that gruesome time of year again: "The apparent suicide of a woman found hanging from a tree went unreported for hours because passers-by thought the body was a Halloween decoration, authorities said."

Don't Go In the Light!!

This is just under the wire, but I wanted to comment on last week's Alias before tonight's new episode.

I liked it. Actually, I think it was my favorite so far this season. Good writing, good acting, good action.

I really enjoyed the Sloane parts. It was great to hear someone say that they weren’t going to believe his lies this time. I am so happy he is out of jail and especially that he had to sell his soul to the Devil to do it. Come to think of it, he must have had to buy it back from the Devil a few times since he’s done this more than once.

Both of the new guys were good and I didn’t find myself wishing that they would just go away, which is progress. And I like Sydney in the take charge role. I think it’d be really interesting to see her develop some of her mother’s characteristics (in terms of strength), and maybe not succumb to tears as she has so often in the past. That said, I had a huge smile on my face when she was stuck up in the car and Dean told her she had a half hour to produce Mockingbird and she said, “I have to call my dad!”

I was pleased that Dixon had a larger role and Marshall a smaller one. A little bit of Marshal goes a long way and that dice scene was hysterical.

For the first time this season, I'm looking forward to a new episode.

Embattled Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers has withdrawn her nomination.

Her nomination was tearing apart the Republican party, or so it seems. I wonder which old friend and crony Bush will nominate next? He is in a pickle, though, isn't he: If he chooses someone who is outwardly anti-abortion, such a candidate would satisfy his largest consituency but incur the wrath of the entire Democratic party and some moderate Republicans; if not, his pro-life, right-wing support will be ripped away, leaving a gash in the fabric of the Republican party.

Drive-Thru Reviews - Halloween's a Comin'

Carnival of Souls - 1962 cult horror that I bought at Target for $1 last year. You know the movie's not going to be so great when the editor and sound guy have roles. It's really quite bad, but the director does a pretty decent job of conveying a spooky atmosphere and delivers a couple of pretty good frights.

Arsenic and Old Lace - An old (1944) favorite that I highly recommend. A screwball comedy about serial killers and family insanity.

Friday the 13th - Watch Halloween instead.

Lost Rhapsody.

Freakin' hysterical.

A politician to the end. I'm surprised he's not kissing a baby in that picture.

LOST "...And Found."

I really enjoyed last night’s episode, again. The actress who plays Sun is just amazing. Her reaction to finding the wedding ring almost had me in tears.

Random things:

• I liked how they intertwined the “lost and found” theme throughout the show. Locke said something about how he didn’t feel lost anymore, and that you find what you’re looking for when you stop looking – Sun and Jin found each other (what a sweet scene that was) after they both failed in their respective searches; Sun found her ring (and hope) after saying that she knew that Jin and the others were not alright; and this doesn’t exactly fit, but Jin and Echo found Michael after...stopping to get a drink of water?
• I liked how they had Sun interacting with everyone separately. Nice character interplay, especially between her and Hurley. He said something that made me laugh out loud, and now I can’t remember it. Something about the "good Korea or the bad Korea", I think.
• The scene where Jin and Echo (oops, it's Eko) hide and watch the Others walk by was very well done. So was that Walt walking with them carrying the teddy bear?
• I thought the actress who plays Sun (Yunjin Kim, perhaps?) did a great job of playing her younger self. Even the way she walked, in the first flashback, across her bedroom when she was getting ready for the matchmaker date, was very much like a young girl. I’ve always loved the Jin and Sun flashbacks.
• Why is not saying goodbye to Sawyer a reason for Kate to be rifling through everyone’s personal bottle messages? I've read speculation that that was just a lie Kate told Sun to cover her real reason for going through the messages - that she was looking to retrieve hers because it had damning information in it. Remember, though, that Sawyer was reading through everyone's messages while on the raft, so if she is trying to hide something, he knows what it is. Or maybe she was hoping that Sawyer had left a message in the bottle and wanted it as a memento? But why would he do that? He was on the raft and could deliver his message himself. Hmm.

There's the usual great discussion going on over at TMFT, in the comments thread. Check it out.

Season 4 premieres tonight! Nine PM on SpikeTV.

Heeehee.

I don't watch The Amazing Race, but I still thought this was funny.

Pretty.

Oh My GOD, Y'all, Now I'm a Mom!: "I mean, didn't you sort of suspect that I might just totally start showing up places wearing like a muu-muu and one of those old lady rain hats made out of old plastic bags and chain-smoking or something? Like I would just decide that I was totally going to just give up on all that exercising they used to make me do and start living on, you know, fiery Cheetos and Jolt?"

Fantasiaslies.com.

They do kind of have a point. They also have way too much time on their hands.

I'm thinking I might need to give country music another chance.

Wilma.

I keep hearing Fred calling her name.

This hurricane season has been unbelievable. Is the result of a more permanent climate change, or just a fluke? Either way, if you're in Florida, get the hell out of there as soon as you can.

Drive-Thru Reviews

Flight of the Phoenix - Really just a wisp of a movie. Don't bother.

Sahara - Another desert movie, but this one I liked. Outrageous action, but they pull it off. Steve Zahn steals the movie, I think. And great soundtrack.

Monster-in-Law - A romantic comedy with inconsequential romantic leads. Jane Fonda (and Wanda Sykes) STEALS this movie. Some good laughs.

Million Dollar Baby - (no link because there's a spoiler on the imdb page) Incredibly good, emotionally powerful film. Really, really good. Did I mention how good it was? With a beautifully spare soundtrack by Eastwood. I cried for the last half hour.

Couch Pug-tato

Couch Pug-tato
Originally uploaded by gina64.

Marty watches some old movie with me.

Listening.

Listening.
Originally uploaded by gina64.

Soaking up the rays.

Soaking up the rays.
Originally uploaded by gina64.

I thought I'd blog a few photos I uploaded to Flickr today.

TV on the download: "Think of it this way: Apple boss Steve Jobs believed that if you priced music cheaply and made it easy to download and store, people would pay for it. He sold 28 million iPods and 500 million songs on that belief. If you think the same strategy can't work with TV programming, you're not seeing the big picture. "

I completely agree with him.

James Blonde.

Daniel Craig Unveiled As New James Bond.

My first pick would have been Clive Owen, but I think Craig is a good choice and he has a nice, rough edge that I think today's Bond needs.

Bye-Bye VCR

And it's probably cheaper than a DVR: "In addition to music videos, the iTunes Music Store also features select Disney and ABC television shows, ready to download. For $1.99, you can own the latest episode just one day after it airs. With full seasons of Lost, Desperate Housewives and That's So Raven, plus episodes of new shows like Night Stalker and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody at your fingertips, you'll never miss your favorites. Plus, you can sync shows to the new iPod and watch them on the go. Just try that with your big-screen TV."

I'm a lazy bastard and I would definitely be willing to shell out $1.99 to watch LOST or Alias again and not have to deal with taping it and making sure I have a blank tape, etc. Just sit down in front of the computer and watch. Awesome.

ETA: I downloaded iTunes last night and opened an account. I purchased Wednesday's LOST episode this morning. It took about 20 minutes to download and the file size is 191 MB. Not too bad. I watched a small portion before leaving for work, and the quality is decent, too. I can archive it to CD and keep it forever, too. This is great. Now if Apple can strike up deals with the makers of Alias, Arrested Development and Battlestar Galactica, I will be all set.

Awesome.

ETA: This is obviously a mistake. I do not think it's awesome that this woman just had her 16th baby (although that hairdo is pretty awesome in a WTF kind of way). This is what I thought was awesome.

Anderson Cooper does 'Jeopardy': "They tape a week's worth of shows in just one day, and by the time I got to the set Tucker Carlson had already creamed Bob Woodward and Peggy Noonan. The green room was abuzz because Woodward had missed a question about Watergate."

Drive Thru Review

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Extremely silly, extremely British, had me laughing out loud quite a few times and really kind of sweet. I am not acquainted with the book(s), radio or television show, and that did not hamper my enjoyment of it in the least. Oh, and the answer is 42.

Extras - Very similar in style and substance to The Office, but Gervais is more likeable in this one. Very, very funny.

Loss.

It seems to be surrounding us lately, doesn't it: the earthquakes in Pakistan and Kashmir, the mud- and landslides in Guatemala, the losses from Katrina. It's almost too much to bear. Then this morning I come in to work to find that Peter, one of our partners, lost his mother this morning. She died after a long battle with cancer, and her death was expected, but that doesn't make it any less of a loss. She was one of the good ones. A truly good person. May you rest in peace now, Joyce.

Now, this is not a loss to compare in any way to those listed above, but it still sucks: Fire destroys 'Wallace and Gromit' warehouse: "The company behind the new 'Wallace and Gromit' film said Monday its 'entire history' has been destroyed in a fire at a warehouse containing props and sets."

Gossip!

Hookin' up and breakin' up.

The best and worst character names on television
: "No wonder so many TV shows fail at it, and miserably. It's hard to beat the successes of the real world. Rep. Zach Wamp already had a pretty awesome legislator name. Now if he succeeds in becoming Majority Whip, he'll be Whip Zach Wamp, which is not only a title and a command, but also a pretty awesome onomatopeiatic phrase in the grand old style of 'Batman.' (Whip Zach! WAMP!)"

Guess who made the 'best' list? Bob Loblaw!

God, that never gets old.

Bob Loblaw Speaks.

Baio Feedback: "Thirty-four years in show business has made Scott Baio a little...weird. He comes off as a bit fed up, a little paranoid - even entitled. In other words he's a perfect addition the hilariously dysfunctional Bluth family on Arrested Development. "

Conan to Turn Entire Show Over to U2.

This is Thursday's show, 12:30 AM (which is actually Friday morning). I'll have to remember to put in a tape, since that's about as close as I'll get to seeing them in concert this time around.

Oh, that's champion!

"Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit": "There may be greater moments of pleasure at the movies this year than watching...a spiral of bunnies swirling around in the transparent canister of an ultra-humane bunny-rabbit-sucker-upper known as the Bun-Vac 6000. But I have yet to encounter them. 'The Curse of the Were-Rabbit' is animator Nick Park's first full-length 'Wallace & Gromit' feature, 85 minutes of bliss with a script that holds together better than those of most live-action pictures. "

(viewing of ad required for site pass)

Oh man, they HAVE to do this: "Hungering for new cash, the three major networks might start selling on-demand viewing of hit shows next season for $1 a peek - without the commercials. "

Or just .50 if they leave the commercials in. I saw just saying to Sheila that I would love it if the broadcast and non-pay cable-channels offered On Demand, but as long as advertisers were a part of the picture, they never would.

Hopefully I was wrong.

In other AD news...

Ricky Gervais will be appearing in an Arrested Development episode.

I hope it's not cancelled before that.

Bob Loblaw. Bob Loblaw. Bob Loblaw.

Last night's Arrested Development was awesome, and I'll let freakgirl from Too Much Free Time take over from here.

A month for new episodes?! Stupid baseball.

Oh my.

Nicolas Cage gives Superman's birth name to son.

I always thought he was a freak (and an overrated actor). This just confirms it. That poor kid!

Progress.

Progress.
Originally uploaded by gina64.

Top: Shortly after I got the braces put on, July 15, 2005.

Bottom: Today, October 3, 2005.

I can't believe the difference. Only 2 more years to go!

Courthouse Evacuated After Attorney Tries To Enter Explosive Evidence: "A county courthouse was evacuated Thursday after officials said they found a possible explosive device -- one brought in by an attorney. Officials said the item brought into the Carroll County Courthouse in Berryville was an undetonated firecracker that Cindy Baker intended to enter as evidence in a trial."

A little perspective here, people! It was a firecracker for crying out loud!