My inner Geek rears its ugly head yet again.

So I've found another show I like, and yes, it's sci-fi, and yes, it's very good, and yes, it's a lost cause because no one will ever watch it and it'll be cancelled right when it starts getting good. It's Battlestar Galactica, on the SciFi Channel on Friday nights at 10:00. It shares its basic premise with the original series, along with character names and some future-speak, but that's all, and as a fan of the original series when I was young, I can say with all honesty that is a good thing.

If you get a chance, check it out. It's really quite good.

Tony you sexy PM, you.

*SMOOCH*

Where's the white hat, Michael?

Let the freakshow begin.

Drive-By Reviews

Watched this weekend:

The Village - Not bad. The knowledge that Shamayalan's films contain twists is a bit distracting, though. I would have liked to have just watched the movie and let it play out, instead of concentrating so much on what the twist would be. If given the chance, though, I would watch it again, just to see if I can pick up on little clues now that I know the end.

The Cooler - Really like this one. Alec Baldwin, William Macy, Ron Livingston and Maria Bello, all great. I landed on it while surfing late Saturday night and it was good enough to keep me watching until almost 3 in the morning.

AUUGGGHHH!!

Where's the Popemobile when you need it??

She's after me Lucky Charms!

Cereality: My new favorite restaurant. (or it would be if I had one anywhere near me)

If I only had a brain.

Pretty picture.

Moscow's Red Square and St. Basil Cathedral in fog. Magical.

I think this happened to me in a dream.

Cheney's Auschwitz outfit raises eyebrows: "Between the somber, dark-coated leaders at the outdoor ceremony sat Cheney, resplendent in a green parka embroidered with his name and featuring a fur-trimmed hood, the laced brown boots and a knit ski cap reading 'Staff 2001.'"

I love the photo accompanying the story - he looks so self-conscious and embarrassed, it almost makes me feel bad for him.

Can you dig it??

The incomprehensible Leroy Wells, an auditioner on American Idol this week, watched his performance from a jail cell. As incomprehensible as Leroy was, the writer of this article is not much better:

"An American Idol hopeful, gaining notoriety, but not just for his shot at stardom. T-V viewers found Grand Bay's Leroy Wells on national T-V Tuesday night. However, on Wednesday, the would-be idol could be found in Mobile Metro Jail."

Wha??

I'm not surprised the kid was in jail. He was whacked out before he even got into the building where the auditions were taking place. Sheila wondered, "Is he on crack?" He was on something, that's for sure, and it sure wasn't Ritalin.

What she said!

A Carnivale of Delights: "Most of the time, I demand things from my television shows like narrative logic and dialogue that doesn't sound like it was written by shaking the Magic 8-ball, but every once in a great while, I'll make an exception and sink a considerable amount of my precious free time in a show that's real pretty, but as lucid as an Ann Coulter column. This is a roundabout way of justifying my season pass for Carnivale. I watched all of last season, yet I am incapable of identifying what are presumably the key points of the plot line. "

She totally nails the way I feel about this show. I haven't watched it yet this season, and I think her suggestion of watching a bunch of episodes at once to help shape the story is a good one. I'm thinking this might a good weekend to watch the first 3 episodes On Demand. I'll let you know what I think if I get to them.

Train Accident

California Train Strikes an S.U.V.; At Least 11 Dead: "A man the police described as deranged and suicidal abandoned an S.U.V. on a heavily traveled commuter rail track here early Wednesday, causing a violent wreck involving three trains that left at least 11 people dead and nearly 200 injured."

Did the season premiere of "24" come to anyone else's mind when they heard about this? In that episode, a terrorist group leaves a truck loaded with explosives on the track of a Los Angeles commuter train, causing it to crash and kill many people. I got that old familiar gut-punch of panic at the thought of another attack. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

I don't meant to make light of such a horrific event, and I know that sometimes when you're under a lot of stress the right words are difficult to come by, but I cannot let pass the following amazingly unnecessary statement:

"This is a complete outrage as far as traffic safety is concerned," Sheriff Lee Baca of Los Angeles County said. "When some individual parks his vehicle on the tracks, that is cause for serious, serious alarm."

Thank you, Sheriff Obvious-Lee Baca.

Gah!!

Man wrongly declared dead after traffic accident: "A medical examiner studying a body in a morgue was startled when the man took a shallow breath."

Where cab drivers go to die?

Taxi driver's body found in snow-covered car: "A 70-year-old cab driver who died in his parked taxi just as a blizzard hit the region went undiscovered for three days as snow piled up over his vehicle.
The man, whose name was not released pending family notification, was found about noon Wednesday in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, near where he lived, said Sgt. Kevin Ferrell, a police spokesman."

Appropriate place to meet your demise. I wonder if anyone was looking for him?

Google Your Favorite TV Show

Google to Branch Into Television: "The Mountain View-based company planned to introduce the new video search service Tuesday in an index that will be operated separately from the market-leading search engine offered on its home page. The feature pinpoints content previously aired on a variety of television networks by scanning through the closed caption text that many programmers offer. "

I keep saying that one day the computer and television and broadband will all be one device. Google takes us one step closer to that.

Snow Bomb, Part III

It's supposed to start snowing after midnight tonight and continue through tomorrow, with another 2-4 inches expected. *weep*

Colorado Mom Has Got It Goin' On

Party Mom Just Wanted to Be 'Cool': "The 40-year-old allegedly provided alcohol, marijuana and methamphetamine to eight underage boys during frequent parties at her Arvada, Colo., home between October 2003 and October 2004. And according to court documents, Johnson also admitted to having sexual contact with five of the 16- and 17-year-old boys. "

Riding on the GWB?

Lawmaker Wants Connecticut Highway Named For Bush: "'We should name a traffic jam after him, not a highway,' said DeStefano, a Democrat running for governor."

Hehe. GWB's claim that he is a Texan, and his supposed drawl, has always made me cringe. That man's about as Texas as I am. However, they can claim him as their own and leave Connecticut out of it, as far as I'm concerned, especially if that means they don't name a highway after him here.

What is wrong with this guy?

I mean, who in their right mind wears black socks with running shoes?

For the Fug Of It

Go Fug Yourself: "Until finding this photo, I didn't realize that all this time, Nicole Kidman has secretly wanted to kill us all and drink our sweet, sweet blood."

A Panini Kind of Weekend

Eip, you were asking about our panini maker...We have a Wolfgang Puck Bistro Nonstick Panini Maker and Grill. It works really well. The mozzarella and sun-dried tomatoes paninis went over well on Saturday, so I made ham and cheese paninis on Sunday. I was thinking a stuffed french toast panini would be good, too...

Snow Bomb, Cont'd.

Boy, that was a good storm. Blizzard Charles was his name. We didn't get the crazy Massachusetts snow, but we did get at least a foot, with higher drifts. It was great to be able to just hunker down, play some video games, eat ALOT and enjoy the snow without having to worry about getting to or from work. Then it came time to clean up, which was my job exclusively since Sheila had her shoulder surgery on Thursday. It wasn't too bad, though, since the snow was very light and fluffy.

It's bitterly cold (about 14 degrees), so the snow won't be going anywhere soon. Especially since we're expecting more tomorrow night. I took some photos on Saturday night that didn't really come out all that well, and then my battery died. It's charged now, and I'm hoping to get some good shots.

Goodnight, Johnny.

Johnny Carson died this weekend. While he's been out of the spotlight for over a decade now, it's still a sad day. He was the best at what he did, I think. As Letterman put it, "All of us who came after are pretenders. We will not see the likes of him again."

Snow Bomb

It started snowing about 15 minutes ago. I guess we're really going to get whalloped this time. There's a blizzard warning in effect right now, and it's supposed to snow straight through to at least noon tomorrow. Accumulations will range from a foot to 30"!! Holy crap. I'll try to post some photos.

We're settled in good here. We got all our groceries this morning, and I squeezed all three cars into our driveway in case there was a parking ban. There's plenty of Diet Coke, DVDs and Playstation. I picked up Star Wars Bounty Hunter this morning for the first time in almost 2 months - I've had to re-play the current level twice already, but I am getting a little further each time. Poor Sheila can't play because of her shoulder - she had surgery on her rotator cuff and a bone spur removal on Thursday - so she gets to watch me play, in between Percoset-induced naps.

I saw someone making yummy pannini sandwiches on the Food Network this morning, so I'm going to attempt to make them myself, using the pannini maker our mother got us for Christmas. I'm making them with mozzarella, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and vinagrette. I'll let you know how they came out.

Have a good day, and if you're getting hit with the snow, I hope you don't have any driving to do.

Hola!!

I'm here! Too busy to post anything, but I'll be back on the weekend. Thanks for not making a stink!

JJ Abrams Article

Welcome to His Unreality: "Although it was neither a reality series nor a procedural cop show--the dominant formats of the past few years--Lost (Wednesdays, 8 p.m. E.T.) was an instant top-10 hit. ABC last week moved Alias, a cult favorite whose ratings never matched the fame of its star Jennifer Garner, into the hour afterward; it won the time period with its biggest prime-time audience ever. It is only fitting that Abrams should get, essentially, his own night on the network, because he has practically invented his own genre: intelligent confections that combine preposterous adventures with emotional impact, well-rounded characters and crisp, funny writing. "

You tell him, George.

Clooney, O'Reilly spar over tsunami telethon: "'I'm booking the talent for the Tsunami event... and you, Mr. O'Reilly, are now officially invited to be a presenter... [at this point, not one of the people I've invited to donate their time has said 'No']... this way, You can personally follow up on our fund raising... this is your chance to put your considerable money where your considerable mouth is... show up... help raise money... and if we're doing something wrong, point it out.'
'Either you ante up and help out AND be that watch dog that you feel we clearly need... or you simply stand on the sidelines and cast stones,' he wrote."

I watched the documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism this weekend. While I do think there is a liberal bent to the views of the people who produced the doc, there's no getting around the fact that FOX News Channel is anything but "Fair and Balanced". I don't care if you're a card-carrying liberal or a bible-thumping ultra-conservative - no one can claim that FNC is a balanced, objective source of news. Every tenet of objective journalism is stomped on, spit on and then thrown out the window on that network. I never liked O'Reilly, and after seeing 'Outfoxed', I can barely look at him.

Splitsville

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston Separate: "The announcement of their split followed months of tabloid stories about spousal ups and downs, including reports that Pitt, 41, wanted to become a father but Aniston, 35, was reluctant to start a family. "

I shouldn't care one wit about these two, but it makes me kind of sad that they couldn't work it out. That's too bad.

Yummy.

If you haven't tried it yet, you must. Now.

And the haves just keep having.

Now that's a swag bag: "Presenters at the Golden Globes will receive a wicker ottoman stuffed with gifts that total out at $38,390. That is if you count the full $16,000 value for the wine tasting trip to Australia. "

I wonder if, in the face of so much recent tragedy and worldwide suffering, if any of the presenters will refuse the basket and ask that the money be donated to an aid agency instead? I'm not saying that I would (although I'd like to think I would), I'm just wondering.

Feast or Famine

If it wasn't for LOST, I would have had no must-see television this season. Until now, of course: All of my old favorites are returning, at the same time. We had the 'Alias' season premiere on Wednesday, and now '24' returns on Sunday:

'24': New Web of Fear, Same Secret Agent: "The creators of the Fox drama "24" wisely decided that the fourth season needed a complete overhaul. Sunday night's premiere episode (or, as we have come to know it, Hour 7 to 8 a.m.) starts quite awhile after the third season ended: Jack, played by Kiefer Sutherland, works for the secretary of defense; his annoying daughter, Kim, is married and out of the picture, and David Palmer is not president anymore."

I hope Palmer makes an appearance at some point this season - I really like Dennis Haysbert.

Then there's MI-5, which returns to A&E on Saturday night, at 10:00 P.M. It's been such a long time since I watched this show (we had to wait for the new season to be filmed and then aired on BBC before it made it to A&E), that I wonder if I'll remember who's who and who's doing what to whom, etc. I've seen some previews on A&E, and I'm a bit worried because I didn't seen Tom in any of the trailers. I really hope he hasn't left the show.

And finally, season 2 of HBO's Carnivale premieres Sunday night at 9:00 (and will be repeated many times throughout the week). While season 1 was highly uneven, it was still very intriguing, so I'm going to try this season on for size.

Garner not sick with viral infection.

SciFi.com: "Garner suffered nerve damage while performing a stunt on the set of ABC's Alias, in which she plays superspy Sydney Bristow, the release said. "

How does nerve damage become a viral infection? Anyhoo, I hope she's better and back to kicking ass soon.

We've discussed the Alias season pretty thoroughly in e-mails, so I'll just say here that while it seemed less like an episode than an Alias primer, I still enjoyed it. Any Alias is better than no Alias. And life with SpyDaddy in it is a life complete.

Oh shut up, Richard.

Appeal by Pretty Woman Star Perplexes Palestinians: "'We don't need the Americans' intervention. We know who to elect. Not like them -- they elected a moron.' " (that's some good stuff)

Wow

Photo: "The Indonesian man swept off shore by last week's tsunami was found afloat on tree branches and debris, the second person to be found alive at sea by Malaysian ships days after the disaster, officials said Tuesday."

God, and I was just complaining because I'm thirsty and we have no water or refrigerator as a result of the remodeling going on in the office right now and I have to take the elevator down to the basement kitchen to see if there's anything I can drink down there.

I take it back.

"For Frodo."

I think that is one of the best moments in the entire trilogy, and I still get goose bumps thinking about it.

I watched the extended edition of Return of the King on Saturday night, at last. One wouldn't think that increasing a 3 and a half hour movie by a whole hour would make it better, but it did. It's far more satisfying, and some of the secondary characters get the treatment (and/or comeuppance) that they deserve.

While I can't remember them all, here are some of my favorite additions:

• Since Jackson did not film the Scouring of the Shire (a decision I agree with), Saruman is vanquished at Orthanc, in a fittingly gruesome manner. We also see the seeds of doubt, which seem to pop up out of nowhere later on, planted into the heads of Theoden and Gandalf by the Voice of Saruman. And it's cool how the Palantir actually gets into the water.
• The Mouth of Sauron. Gross. EW. Scary. And we get the displaying of Frodo's mithril shirt, which only adds to the emotional response by the fellowship when they realize that Frodo succeeded.
• The Houses of Healing scenes, which I really enjoyed in the book. While very brief, they did a nice job of etching the relationship between Eowyn and Faramir, explaining why they were so chummy at the crowning of Aragorn.
• All of the expanded stuff on the Pelennor battlefield that involved Eowyn, Merry, Theoden and Eomer. I was so taken aback when I saw Eomer rush to the fallen Eowyn, screaming in anguish. Damn, I feel like crying again.
• All of the extra Gandalf and Pippin scenes, from the big Witch King confrontation at Minas Tirith (I never noticed he didn't have his staff for the rest of the movie!) to the small look that Pippin gives Gandalf during the celebration at Edoras.

While I could have done without the Gimli/Legolas drinking game scene, I take objection with nothing else that was added. It's just an exquisite movie.

I don't know which I want to do - watch it again or delve into the gazillion hours of bonus material.

Image of the Day

I wanted to keep things lighthearted here today, but I feel compelled to post this photo. Makes me want to cry, for two reasons: happiness that the little girl is finding the help that she needs and sadness that she had to go through it at all.

Survival of the Lesser Evolved

Debrashi and her kitties: "Wild animals seem to have escaped the Indian Ocean tsunami, adding weight to notions they possess a 'sixth sense' for disasters, experts said Thursday."

If we as humans had any instinct left in us, the people who were drawn to the shoreline after the ocean mysteriously receded by hundreds of yards would have been running in the opposite direction. I sometimes thing that we're going to evolve ourselves right off the planet.

It's Late Night TV For Chrissake.

Rocker Lets F-Word Slip on 'Tonight Show'.

Really, now, who the f*ck cares???

The Long Wait Is Over

'Alias' hopes for new life: "For 'Alias' fans, it has been a long summer and fall, with no new adventures from Sydney Bristow and her covert cohorts. But they're all coming back in a big way at 9 p.m. Wednesday in the spy-fi drama's two-hour fourth-season premiere."

New LOST and 2 hours of new 'Alias' on Wednesday, January 5, starting at 8:00 P.M. W-O-O H-O-O!!

Happy 2005

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope you all had a nice holiday. And I hope that this year is a better one, not just for me and my family, but for all. May there be less hatred and war, less devastation and disease. I think quiet enough people died in 2004, don't you?

The holidays were alright. This was the first Christmas without my father, and while it was sad, it was more empty than anything else. I was glad to be done with it this year, for the first time ever. Although it was nice to have two 3-day weekends in a row.

We stayed home on New Year's Eve. We couldn't really decide what to do and I wasn't feeling all that well, so we laid low that night. We watched the ball drop on ABC, and I would like to say one thing: "Shut up, Regis."

Well, I'm at work on a Sunday, printing out a few large reports so I don't monopolize the printer during working hours, so I'd better go check and see if the paper ran out.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

Dozens of kids hurt in New Year's sledding accident: "The children and Youth for Christ staff piled eight to 12 passengers on the sleds, then went down the hill in quick succession, Black said. 'The sleds struck rocks, a light pole and each other,' he said."

When I saw the headline, I said to Sheila, "What kind of sledding accident injures dozens of children?" The kind where the sleds are driven by idiots, apparently.

Tsunami Aid

There isn't much that I can say that hasn't already been said, except to ask those of you who can to donate to a relief organization of your choice. CNN.com has posted a list of aid groups, if you're interested. I could only give a tiny bit, but even that small gesture made me feel less helpless.

I thought this NYTimes article gave an interesting perspective on that disastrous day: Gauging Disaster: How Scientists and Victims Watched Helplessly.