It Is Like Watching Moving Pictures On My TV!...

Nintendo launched the brilliantly named Nintendo Channel earlier this week for the Wii. The Channel does several things, including show game preview movies and interviews with Nintendo muckamucks like Miyamoto himself. The service also does things in the background, like detect your type of TV, how often you play games, and even what types of games you play. The service sends this info back to Nintendo, and will even provide you with game recommendations depending on what you play.

My favorite aspect of this service is the free DS game demos. Simply access the game you wish to try, turn on your DS, and presto, free demo for upcoming and already released games. Last night I tried out Ninja Gaiden DS and Jam Sessions. And ya know what? I had so much fun with Jam Sessions that I went online and bought the damn thing! Got it cheap too :)

What does this teach us? That if you give people a chance to try the product, consumers may actually purchase it! WHAT A FASCINATING CONCEPT!

Let us hope that Wii game demos and Virtual Console demos appear at some point, and that we get no shortage of things to try. While Nintendo is still "winning" the current hardware war in pure number of units sold (namely, all of the ones they build are sold) they have been lacking in software and Wii specific features. This is another step in the right direction, but until we get rid of freaking game-specific Friend Codes and see more AAA titles, I will keep playing my 360 more often than my Wii.

Buffy Top 10: Part 5...

#5 Who Are You?: Faith is my 2nd favorite character in the Buffyverse, following Giles as my numero uno. Her character is the most fascinating and curious of all the characters Joss has created. From her initial taking over of Buffy's life, to the unstable renegade teenager, to the murderous right hand to Mayor Wilkins, her journey has always kept me glued to the TV. So when Faith came out of her coma, and was back on the scene towards the end of season 4, I was expecting something good. What I got, was something great.

Without a doubt, the best acting by in the series is done here by Eliza Dushku. Long story short (I never get tired of saying that), Mayor Wilkins leaves Faith a device that will allow her to swap bodies with someone else, and of course, she swaps with Buffy. This is actually a 2 parter, with This Year's Girl preceding the episode, containing Faith's awakening, finding the weapon and battle with Buffy. That episode ends with Faith having just body swapped with Buffy, but no one except the audience is aware. Mind you, the only way you KNOW they swapped is because when Joyce asks "Buffy" if she is OK, after knocking out "Faith", Faith-in-Buffy responds with a sinister 5 by 5.

Eliza Dushku captures Sarah Michelle Gellar's mannerisms and speech patterns perfectly. The scene where Buffy-in-Faith goes into Gile's apartment, trying to convince him that she is not actually Faith is the best of all. The dialogue goes as follows:

Giles: "Look, I know what you are going to say, and..."
BiF: "I'm Buffy."
Giles: "All right, I didn't know what you were going to say, but that doesn't make you any less crazy. If you are Buffy, then you will let me tie you up without killing me until we find whether you are telling the truth."
BiF: "Giles, Faith has taken my body, and for all I know she's taken it to Mexico by now. I don't have time for bondage fun. Ask me a question, ask me anything."
Giles: "Who's President?"
BiF: "We're checking for Buffy, not a concussion. Giles, you turned into a demon, and I knew it was you. I mean, can't you just look in my eyes and be all intuitive?
Giles: How did I turn into a demon?
BiF: Oh, 'cause, uh, Ethan Rayne. And-and you have a girlfriend named Olivia... and you haven't had a job since we blew up the school... which is valid lifestyle-wise. I mean, it's not like you're a slacker type, but - Oh, oh! When I had psychic power I heard my mother think that you were like a stevedore during sex. Do you want me to continue?"
Giles: "Actually I beg you to stop."
BiF: "What's a stevedore?"

Only a long time fan would truly understand how wonderful this scene, and Eliza's job in it, truly is. But there is more to this episode than just the acting. We once again get to see the vilification's of the Watcher's Council, it is confirmed for the first time that Willow and Tara have more than just a friendship forming, and we learn that Tara is a more powerful and intuitive witch than those we have seen before. This chain of events also leads to the crossover with Angel in L.A. where Faith finally accepts her bad choices and tries to make amends, with some excellent Angel episodes from his freshman season.

I can't figure out how to close this post out.... so I will leave you with Faith in Buffy talking to spike:
Spike: "You know why I really hate you, Summers?"
Faith-in-Buffy: "'Cause I'm a stuck-up tight-ass with no sense of fun?"
Spike: "Well, yeah, that covers a lot of it."
Faith-in-Buffy: "'Cause I can do anything I want, and instead I choose to pout and whine and feel the burden of Slayerness? I mean, I could be rich. I could be famous. I could have anything. Anyone. Even you, Spike. I could ride you at a gallop until your legs buckled and your eyes rolled up. I've got muscles you've never even dreamed of. I could squeeze you until you popped like warm champagne, and you would beg me to hurt you just a little bit more. And you know why I don't? (pauses) Because it's wrong."

Buffy Top 10: Part 4...

#4 Becoming (Parts 1&2): Becoming might be the most appropriately named Buffy episode, as it truly defined what the show was about, and specifically, formed Buffy into the woman she is today. The 2^nd season finale, these 2 episodes, aired a week apart, proved to any non-believer that Buffy, as a show, had a lot more to it than just some skinny blonde chick kicking demon ass.

So much is revealed shown and in these episodes, namely how Angel became a vampire, Willow’s first time with witchcraft, Spike showing that he is more than the average vampire, how insane Angelus is compared to the average demon, and Buffy revealing to her mother that she is the Slayer.

Long long LOOOONG story short, Buffy is out for blood now that Angel, soul-less and evil after sleeping with Buffy and having one moment of true happiness, has killed Ms Calendar and harassed Buffy and pals non-stop. Angel wants to awaken the demon Acathla , who will suck the world into Hell. Angel kidnaps and tortures Giles on how to awaken the demon, Spike sides with Buffy, as he doesn’t actually want the world to end and wants Drucilla back to being his alone, and Drucilla injures Willow and Xander, and kills Kendra without a drop of sweat. Buffy marches into battle against Angel, fighting him in an epic sword fight. Buffy has nowhere to go, everyone has either died or abandoned her.

Acathla’s mouth opens, and the world starts being sucked into Hell. Buffy has the advantage, and is about to finish both Angel and Acathla by driving the sword through Angel into the demon statue. Buffy pulls back her sword, ready to plunge, when suddenly, Angel changes, his soul returns thanks to Willow back in the hospital. Realizing what must be done, Buffy says her tearful goodbye to the confounded Angel, then thrusts her sword through her love, and sends Angel to Hell, and closing the portal.

The season ends with Buffy leaving town, no one knowing what actually happened in the battle with Angel and where Buffy has gone. You can read more about my personal experience with this episode and it’s close by CLICKING HERE! Buffy’s sacrifice to save the world cemented the show, and Buffy’s place in history, and proved to the world that, yes, you guessed it, Joss Whedon is evil.

Buffy Top 10: Part 3...

#3 Hush: Other than being evil (see previous post) Joss Whedon is probably best known for having amazing dialogue in all of his works, from Buffy to Firefly to Toy Story.... yes, Toy Story. So it came as a big surprise to many that the much hyped 10th episode of the 4th season of Buffy, titled Hush, would contain very little speaking at all. Other than the lack of much dialogue, Hush is also best known for being the only episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that was nominated for an Acadamy Award for writing.

The episode starts out with Buffy daydreaming in class (about new beau Riley (few dates, no kiss yet)) with the daydream turning into a strange nightmare, with a little girl singing a song about demons named The Gentlemen. She tells Giles about the dream, and he says he will research it. Willow is still recovering from Oz's recent departure, and decides to join the college Wicca group, who discuss nothing about magic and spells, and instead discuss bake sales and "menstrual lifeforce." When she points out the lack of magic talk, she is mocked by the group, except for one young lady, named Tara, who seems quite eager to hear more of what Willow has to say. Anya is on Xander's back about what their relationship is about other than "lots of orgasms." Meanwhile, Giles is entertaining a female friend from the UK, and has had the neutered Spike moved to Xander's basement for the visit. This is discussed in one of the best lines of the season:

Giles: I have a friend who's coming to town, and I'd like us to be alone.
Anya: Oh, you mean an orgasm friend?
Giles: Yes, that's exactly the most appalling thing you could have said.

After all this exposition, The Gentleman appear and steal the voices of everyone in Sunnydale. This is where things get interesting. We start with Buffy and Willow realizing they have no voices, and then Xander tries calling Buffy on the phone, realizing that there is no way to communicate, and he starts blaming Spike for their current situation. Everyone arrives at Giles' and they watch a newscast announcing the current predicament. The newscasters voice is the last one we hear until the end of the episode, and all of the acting is pantomime. This is what makes Hush so incredible, is everything that happens while no one is able to talk.

Some brilliant scenes come out of the silence. Buffy and Riley finally kiss while helping the towns people at night, helping to prevent the mayhem caused by a town now gone mad. When Xander returns to Giles' apartment, he finds spike hanging over Anya's sleeping frame with blood around his mouth, and Xander, believing Spike has attacked Anya, jumps to the rescue, making Anya quite happy, and frisky. The best scene of all is the one where Giles explains to the Scoobies what The Gentleman are and why they are in Sunnydale. Camille Saint-Saens' "Danse Macabre" plays while Giles uses an overhead projector to show his crudely drawn pictures of The Gentleman and Buffy. This scene is one of the funniest in the series, despite the masturbatory and boobies related humor. This is also where Willow and Tara finally meet, warding off one of the Gentleman, which winds up being a big turn for the series.

The Gentleman and their helpers are amazingly well done. They are very pale, almost bone white men in black suits. They have enormous toothy grins, and use slow, methodical movements. Imagine polite skeletons with tight skin and you will get the idea. The Gentlemen float slowly through the air with an eerie calm about them. To contrast their subtle ways, their henchmen are loping, arm flailing demons, wrapped in straight jackets and chains.

As if there was any doubt, Buffy, with the aide of Riley, defeat The Gentleman and gets everyone's voices back. During the fight, Buffy and Riley both realize that the other is something more than merely college students, and the episode ends with them seeing that they both need to explain who and what they are. In another brilliant ending, Joss ends the episode with the following, taken directly from the Hush script (which I actually own):

Riley: Well. I guess we have to talk.
Buffy: I guess we do.
(The two sit in awkward, dead silence.)
Credits Roll

XBox Live Equals Love...

With my new bowel shaking Guitar Hero powers, aka my kickassedness on Hard and Expert, I have had a desire recently to test my metal (no pun intended) against other players. Saturday night, I logged onto the online multiplayer for Guitar Hero 3 to put my skills to the test.

I played about 10 songs against other players. Three separate times, I played against the same competitor, who I will call CrazyMonkey for reference. Each time, we were very evenly matched, with him taking 2 wins, and me taking 1. CrazyMonkey used his headset to communicate during and after matches, with normal comments like "Aww man!" when he messed up and "Nice match" when he won, always gracious.

On our fourth and final match, I chose Paint It Black on Expert. I immediately took the lead and for the whole match dominated CrazyMonkey. At the end of the match, I had a score three times greater than his.

Instead of his normal, gracious losing speech, he presented me with this, in a completely matter-of-fact voice: "Whatever dude, have your little victory, I am going to f**k your mom now."

Thank you, internet, for showing me so much about humanity.

Buffy Top 10: Part 2...

Starting my series of mini-reviews about my favorite Buffy episodes. You can read my previous post by CLICKING HERE!

#2: The Body- Joss Whedon is evil, and I absolutely love him for it. The season 5 episode The Body is the proof. A big part of season 5 is Buffy's mom Joyce going through a health scare with a brain tumor. Buffy, used to fighting off her demons, at first refuses to accept that nothing can be done to help her mom, but slowly accepts the truth. Over the months, Joyce goes through surgery and appears fully healed. In the episode prior to The Body, called I Was Made To Love You, Joyce is back on the dating scene, full head of hair and back at work, full of life and energy. The episode ends with Buffy coming home to find Joyce dead on the couch. The Body starts right where the last episode left off (last scene in previous episode is first here) with Buffy finding Joyce, and it sinks in how evil Joss Whedon truly is.

We spend all season worrying about Joyce, and during I Was Made To Love You, she is back to her old self, doing better in fact than before the tumor! Buffy and Dawn tease her about her hair and outfit, Joyce makes jokes about forgetting her bra in her date's car, and the new guy even sends her flowers the next day. The fact that, for 15 episodes, we watch as Joyce gets sick, recovers, and is then better than ever is what makes her death even more traumatic. If she had just died suddenly, or during her medical scare, yes, it would have been sad, but not shocking. Writing and planning like this is what makes Joss Whedon so incredible.

The acting in The Body is just as good as the planning and writing. Everything from Buffy's jaw gaping slog around her house, her screaming at Giles not to touch "the body", Willow's freaking out about clothing choices, Anya's desperate pleas for someone to explain why Joyce is dead, and Tara's stoic support to all involved are all heart wrenching performances that truly showcase these actor's abilities. And, for the first time, we actually care about Dawn.

There are 4 moments that stand out for me in The Body. The first is when Buffy is on the phone with 911 and has the following conversation with the tech:

Buffy (putting her hand on Joyce): She's cold.
911 Operator (pause): The body's cold?
Buffy: No, my mom! Sh-should I make her warm?

Buffy not equating "the body" with her mother shows how she will not accept what has happened. The second, as I mentioned, is when Giles arrives and Buffy shouts at him as he dashes to check on Joyce, "We're not supposed to move the body!" and slaps her hands over her mouth, finally for the first time truly realizing what is happening. The third moment for me is when Willow and Xander hug in her dorm room. There is nothing special happening, there are many other much more dramatic moments, but the moment these two best friends hug, I lose it. That is my we're-not-supposed-to-move-the-body moment. And finally, Anya's tirade about life and death: "But I don't understand! I don't understand how this all happens. How we go through this. I mean, I knew her, and then she's, there's just a body, and I don't understand why she just can't get back in it and not be dead anymore! It's stupid! It's mortal and stupid! And, and Xander's crying and not talking, and, and I was having fruit punch, and I thought, well Joyce will never have any more fruit punch, ever, and she'll never have eggs, or yawn or brush her hair, not ever, and no one will explain to me why."

Visually, Joss did a lot with The Body as well. Some shots are framed so perfectly I have a hard time believing he didn't spend hours on each shot. And more subtle queues like Dawn's art project (drawing a picture of what basically looks like a dead woman's body in the same pose as Joyce) are delightfully dark. And the episode ends where so many directors and visionaries would refuse to let it; right before the big moment. Dawn and Buffy lie on the floor of the morgue after dusting a vampire that was in the room with the other bodies. The sheet that covered Joyce's corpse has fallen, and her cold dead body lies on the table. Buffy is frozen in fear. Dawn is wide eyed and curious and reaches slowly to touch her dead mother's skin, and right before she does, fade to black, the end.

Buffy Top 10: Part 1...

As many of you know, I have been rewatching the entire run of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD for the past few months. There has been a lot of nostalgia, both good and bad, but rewatching many of my favorite episodes have brought new light to old memories. When it is all said and done, I decided to make a list of my 10 favorite Buffy episodes, both for myself and for others to read about.

My favorite episodes of all time are:
1) Once More With Feeling
2) The Body
3) Hush
4) Becoming (1+2)
5) Who Are You?
6) Restless
7) Innocence
8) The Puppet Show
9) Tabula Rasa
10) The Zeppo

While 1-3 represent my favorites in order, 4-10 are in no particular order. This being Buffy we are talking about, things get a little different when we talk about seasons and villains. For example, my favorite seasons, from most favorite to least are:
1) Season 2
2) Season 3
3) Season 1
4) Season 4
5) Season 5
6) Season 6
7) Season 7

Notice that the only season 2 episodes on my first list are Becoming and Innocence, but it is my favorite season overall. And no, 6 is not at the bottom of my list, with OMWF and Tabula Rasa on the list, with Life Serial and Gone close to making it. Point to make as well, and that is 7 is not a bad season either, just the least note worthy.

And what about the villains?! My favorite villains are:
1) Mayor Richard Wilkens
2) Faith
3) Spike
4) The Master

Over the next few weeks, I am going to post my opinions on my top 10 episodes, mini reviews of each one. To start with, I already wrote a bit about Once More With Feeling back in November, which you can read by CLICKING HERE! I will write about The Body later this week, then so on and so forth for a little while. If you guys like what I write, I will start doing more on other shows like Angel and Firefly, etc, etc.

X-Play Nice Children...

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X-Play, G4's flagship show, has received a lot of flack from both gamers and TV viewers, two completely different groups of people who have nothing in common. While many criticisms are valid, 2008 has been a standout year for the show. 4 months into their new format, they are clearly listening to their critics, in obvious ways like shortening a 45 second opening down to 10 seconds, putting a nice Daily Show style spin on the daily gaming news, getting rid of the horrendous in show forum/chat pop up every 2 seconds, but also in subtler ways some people might not take note of, like taking huge segments of time, and dedicating that time to serious topics.

Most recently, Adam Sessler (the reason other than Morgan Webb's boobs that the show lasted during the dark times (that is not a dig on Morgan, just a sad, pathetic truth)) spoke with Dr Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olson of Harvard's mental health and media department about their $1,500,000 government funded study about how video games effect children, which they cleverly titled Grand Theft Childhood. It is a very interesting topic and handled so well by Sessler and X-Play. It would be so easy for the show to be childish and "I told you so" about video game violence with children, but instead, they let the experts do all the talking and make themselves look smarter for doing so.

Check out the segment below:



I am also a big fan of Sessler's Soapbox, a rant on various topics every week or so. You can view his latest diatribe about the Resident Evil 5 racist controvery below:

Props to Amazon...

Way to go Amazon.com! Long story short, I bought the Buffy Chosen Collection back in 2005 when it was released. I have yet to watch the entire series, in order anyway. Today, ready to watch the 3rd season finale and.... no 3rd season finale disk... Searched and searched, both physically and mentally/memoryally, and really and truly, no disk. I decided to try and call Amazon, see if they would be of any help, low expectations abound. Well, long story story short (didn't I already say that?) they couldn't replace anything, and Fox will only cover for a little while so they would have been no help at all. After speaking with the Amazon dude for a few more minutes, he agreed to pay for half of the cost of replacing the 1 season from which the disk is missing. He didn't owe me anything, didn't have to give me a dime, but he split the cost of replacing a DIFFERENT product from 3 years ago!

Nice work Amazon!

The Ancient Ghost of Irony...

UPDATE: SEE BOTTOM OF POST FOR NEW INFO

UPDATE 2: No, the song is not the song Angel... c'mon people...

I recently started rewatching the entire Buffy TV series on DVD. I own the Chosen collection, which is 1 big box with all 144 episodes. Today, I watched the 2nd season finale, the amazing Becoming two part episode. But I am not here to talk about the show itself, I am here to tell a story.

Many many many many years ago (like 9) my best friend and I decided to enter this big contest in the Games puzzle magazine. The contest involved answering many questions, and each question would somehow give a hint to the final question, which, if you could answer, entered you into the grand prize. The questions varied from "simple" mathematic equations, to knowing about historic events, to finding out about a specific painting and how much a bottle of shampoo in that painting cost. We hunted down answers everywhere from the then limited internet, up to and including heading all the way into center city Philadelphia to the city's big library to hunt down answers. Ok, he did most of it... but I was all helpy and supporty.

One of the questions what right up my alley. The answer we needed was which Sarah McLachlan song played at the end of the 2nd season finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I did not know. I could remember only a bit about the song. Now remember, this was before the internet had every piece of information available at your fingertips. I could recall a tiny segment of the tune, and a few lyrics. After finally finding a short clip on a website, I was able to get the lyrics "and I claw for solid ground." I even learned to play the few notes on the piano, a musical instrument that still mocks me to this day. But that tiny segment of the song is all we had to go on.

My best friend's friend, and one of our classmates, he found out, is/was a big McLachlan fan. He played the little ditty for me, I mentioned the lyrics, and not even she knew the full song... but she did own the piano books for her albums. After a lot of searching, we found the song was on an album called Surfacing, and the song was called Full of Grace. I still have a fond memory of this song, the hunt for the title, and that moment in the episode where Buffy's mom comes up the stairs, and those lyrics play.

Fast forward to an hour ago. I am watching the 2nd half of Becoming, the episode in question. The song starts to play. Buffy has just killed Angel and sent him to hell. Tears are pouring. Memories of the episode and our quest flood back. Then, I see Kristine Sutherland start to walk up the stairs. The lyrics begin... "and I claw for solid gr.........." Heh..... freeze frame... odd, I didn't touch the remote... Then the familiar XBox 360 bloink noise, and a message pops up "Attempting to read media." The disk cannot be read. It cannot be read AT THE EXACT MOMENT THAT PART OF THE SONG IS PLAYING.

I eject the disk, put it back, try another device... but there is something wrong with the disk AT THAT EXACT MOMENT. It winds up playing if I let it sit for a minute or two, but every device and every time, the disk freezes at this exact moment. So, long story short, the ancient ghost of irony has decided to freak me out a bit today.

UPDATE:
From Andrew, the best friend guy: "it's really funny to think of the internet as NOT being the mecca for all answers to all life, isn't it? i mean, we got that video of the commercial for the episode on the internet but couldn't find the episode. then when we nailed the little bit of lyric, we couldn't find it in context. that same question would've taken us ten minutes today, and from the time we actively started working on it, until the time Caitlin gave us the sheet music...had to be several weeks. straaaaaange..." More in the comments section.

Define lazy....

How lazy am I? The keyboard was a little too far away from me, but the mouse was at hand. I wanted to look up Ghostbusters on IMDB. Again, keyboard, not within reach. So instead of actually getting up, I brainstormed. I went to the Coming Soon section on the site, found Street Kings. Street Kings features Hugh Laurie of House fame, which now features Kal Penn, who stars in Harold and Kumar which had a cameo by Neil Patrick Harris who works with Alyson Hannigan on How I Met Your Mother whose first movie was My Stepmother is an Alien which starred Dan Aykroyd... who played Dr Ray Stantz in.... GHOSTBUSTERS! No keyboard required.

EDIT: Yes, I realize in hindsight that Kal Penn was in the Buffy episode "Beer Bad". The reason I did not recall this fact at first? BECAUSE THE EPISODE WAS BEER BAD!

The Greatest Gift of all...

This past week was that one week each year that my birthday happens to occur during. Also, screwy sentence structure reared its ugly head. I know, wacky. So what did I get? Other than a kick ass party with a large number of beautiful women (some dudes were there too....) and the prerequisite mommy made bday cake, a few good things happened on or around my big day.

Smash Bros: My Wii has been rather lonely lately. Mario Galaxy has long laid dormant... ok, lie, it has been borrowed by 2 people so far. No Virtual Console titles have merited my hard heard Nintendo points. Super Smash Bros Brawl's arrival, despite delayed, is perfectly timed. I have put in at least 20 hours so far, both solo and in hilarious multiplayer matches. No other game in memory other than Rock Band can bring out such utter joy and glee. The controls are fully customizable, and everything runs much closer to the N64 original over the GameCube speed fest (which I popped back in this afternoon for comparison). I absolutely hate playing as some characters (Donkey Kong, Ganondorf, and yes, Mario) but have found perfect balance with Link, Pit and Meta Knight (fallen out of love with Samus for the moment). Only negative? A week in and I still cannot play online against strangers. Quick message to Nintendo: stop being so freaking stupid about online. Oh, and Mario Kart Wii comes out in like a month.... yay? Yeah, didn't think so.

Paramore: Hey, so, good news and bad news! Paramore has added one of their songs to Rock Band for the bargain price of 80 points ($1 to us normal folk). Bad news? It wasn't Misery Business. Crushcrushcrush would be the song. While still a great song, when I read Paramore as one of the bands for the week, my heart skipped a beat thinking the next words would be Misery Business. Clearly, not the case. Misery Business would be one of the greatest songs to have in Rock Band. Everyone cross their fingers, mkay?

Lewis Black: My favorite comedian's new TV show premiered this week, and it isn't half bad! Root of all Evil pits 2 pop-culture items against each other, with 2 comics arguing for why their topic is the true root of all evil, with Lewis Black being the final judge. Only complaint? Not enough Black! He opens and closes the show, and quips here and there, but this is a show WRITTEN and CREATED by Black, not starring him. While his writing is one of the things that makes him so great, I want to see more of the man doing his thing, and less of the actor.

Serenity: Wuzzat? The Angel: After the Fall and Buffy: Season 8 comics are doing so well that Joss is going back to do more Firefly/Serenity comics too? Ya heard that right. And the first issue came out on Wednesday. And is it as good as the aforementioned amazing comic comebacks? No, actually. A tad disappointing.... not bad by any standards, but the show/movie has lost something in the translation to the comic world, something both Buffy and Angel have done quite well. I will wait until all 3 issues are released before making any final judgments, but so far, a comic about 9 characters (10, including Serenity herself) needs more time to marinate. The previously released Those Left Behind was a great example of how to do it, so let us hope the next 2 issues are worthy of the Whedonverse.

Top Chef: Hey, do you like reality shows? Me neither! But I love Top Chef. And what's that, Top Chef, season 4 is back only 4 months after the last seasons finale? Isn't that great? Well? Isn't it? Yeah, not TOO psyched either. Need some breathing room sometimes between shows... but, proved me wrong season 4 has! A good number of interesting characters are already showing their true colors, and I will make my calls now that Richard, Stephanie, Andrew, Dale, and Mark will be top contenders. Sorry other ladies, none of you have stood out quite yet like the last 3 years. Early call overall, Richard for the win. And no, having 2 of the women being in a relationship is not an advantage, it will be harder for them both, having to decide whether or not to help each other or look out for #1. So far so good, despite my early attitude about the show coming back on WAY too soon again.

Stand In The Place Where You Live...

Living in Las Vegas is unlike living in any other place I have ever lived, or even visited. For me specifically, I live pretty far away from any major landmarks, in the far southwest of the valley. And yes, Vegas is a valley. The Strip is in the middle of the big square, and I live in the bottom left hand corner, quite literally in the middle of the desert. I see coyotes at least once a week, and I am surrounded by mountains on 3 sides (4 if you count the entrance to my neighborhood) and the sidewalks are covered in tumbleweeds. When you get off the exit from the highway to get to my house, you pass several big brown signs indicating you are driving to Death Valley.

Sometimes, I see something here that truly sets it apart from the rest of the world. Driving to work this morning, I witnessed an amazing sunrise coming over the mountains to the south east. The picture below, taken by my passenger on a cell phone camera, cannot do justice to the majesty I witnessed. Just thought this was something cool and unique, and wanted to share it.

Click to embiggen

No Doubt.... ABOUT MY SKEELS YALL!!

I woke up today with the idea of writing a lil something for the site here, and one topic that has been on my mind is the utter lack of any Guitar Hero downloadable content. Yes, we got a free Dream On (100% on the first try on Medium so easy..... and boring....) and the Foo Fighters pack near launch was the rockingest. But every other song or pack that comes out is just plain disappointing. Low and behold to my surprise, but out of freakin nowhere, one of my top 5 favorite bands puts out a 3 pack for Guitar Hero 3: No Doubt!



What songs did we get for our 500 points ($6.25)? Don't Speak, Excuse Me Mr. and SUNDAY MORNING! For those who know nothing about music and hate their ears being happy, all 3 songs are from the CLASSIC 1995 Tragic Kingdom album, with Sunday Morning being one of my top 10 favorite songs of all time. Just want to point out the awesome coincidence that Tragic Kingdom knocked Bush's Razorblade Suitcase (anyone else remember Swallowed?) out of the top spot on the charts, and 13 years later we have Gwen and Gavin happily married with family :)

So how do the songs play? Here are my thoughts on the songs on Medium:
Excuse Me Mr: Most challenging and great beat. One of those songs that will challenge new people, but feel very fulfilling to long time players. This is one of those songs that when you play it, you forget you don't actually have a real guitar in your hands.
Don't Speak: Too easy on Medium, with the solo sucking because you only play 1/3 of the notes. Very Guitar Her 2 of them.... I will try again on Hard tonight and update my opinion.
Sunday Morning: ROCKIN! I got 100% on my first play through. It wasn't too hard or too easy. Yes, I am biased as this is one of my absolute favorite songs, so I am not the best judge here. It is like asking me if I liked that last interview with Joss Whedon: no matter what happens, I will love it.

That is all for now. Check back tonight or tomorrow as I will just add my opinions on the songs on Hard at the bottom of this post. Oh, and the Guitar Hero Aerosmith announcement? I am TRYING to reserve judgment until I see the song list, but I am getting familiar Rock the 80s suck waves from that one...

UPDATE: Don't Speak is not that bad on Hard, quite a bit of fun. Excuse Me Mr is very difficult, and Sunday Morning is still the awesomenest.

image courtesy Wikipedia

DANGER DANGER!

Be weary young friends! A threat is upon us like none other before it! Coming this leap year day of the 29th of the month of February (Feb-ROO-ary) comes a film so packed full of sexy, it may just make your head explode. Natalie Portman. Scarlett Johansson. Eric Bana. All... in Victorian garb.

MAY YOUR LIBIDOS TAKE WARNING AT THIS CLEAR ATTEMPT TO MAKE ALL OF THE WORLDS POPULATION MATE AT ONE TIME THEREBY DOUBLING THE POPULATION IN AN ATTEMPT TO END THE WORLD!!!!!! Ok, so not double, just like.... there will be like 50% more people. More like 37% counting children and the elderly who cannot mate... BUT STILL THE THREAT IS A GREAT ONE!

Shield thine virgin eyes and tie down your young sexy daughters... yeah... tie em down good... need a hand with that rope? Yeah, she likes it... I mean... wait... LOCK UP YOUR LOVERS FOR THE THREAT OF THIS AMOUNT OF SEXY IN ONE FILM WILL BE TOO MUCH FOR YOUR CROTCHES TO HANDLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Other Boleyn Girl draws closer.....



Image courtesy IMDB

You say "tomato", I say "feb-roo-ary"...

Other than the occasional Rock Band break, I haven't been able to get much gaming in at all for nearly a month now. After nearly 200 hours on the job, and a few thousand miles of traveling, I am finally ready to get back into the swing of things and start having some fun again. First, it is time for me to look back on my most recent trip...

Vegas vs. Atlantic City, NJ: You decide...

Click on either picture to embiggen. That is AC on the top and Vegas on the bottom for the hopelessly ignorant. Also, the Vegas picture was taken by a very talented photographer at my boss's place a few months back.

Creepy: Atlantic City has/was long been the home of Miss America and all things related to this wacky little freak show. My hotel was the quasi Miss America museum, and the presence of the show permeated everywhere. This is what was across the wall from my bed in my hotel room in Atlantic City:

CLICK PICTURE TO EMBIGGEN

Some of you have already seen this picture, and I will now post your thoughts on it:
-"I agree, rather strange. But now I know what Miss America from the year of my birth looks like. But they should provide better material for when you're alone in the hotel room... uhhh - never mind."
-"They'll be WATCHING your every move... but hey, you've finally got a captive audience to practice your jokes on!!"
-"haha *sings* here she is, miss americaaaaaaa!!! sucks to be you LOL ^_^ "
-"Wow. The ghost of Miss America's past watching over you? I'd be scared to go to sleep."

F%&k you all.

Yummy: While back in the Delaware Valley (PA+NJ+DE), I managed to pick up a "few" Tasty Kakes. In Philadelphia, a "few" equals $44.

CLICK PICTURE TO EMBIGGEN

A little history about Tasty Kakes for those who aren't familiar. Tasty Kakes were first made in 1914 in Philadelphia. They were created when the Super Devil, Bender from Futurama, Chuck Norris, and Super Saiyajin Goku high-fived each other in a bakery owned by the Mythbusters. The original product looked less than appetizing, so Lucy Pinder, Kelly Brook, and Scarlett Johansson made out in front of the delicious pastries and they morphed into their current beautifully chocolate form. You can FINALLY buy them in bulk online, bulk being the operative. The majority of people that I had try them for the first time loved them greatly, with only one person just thinking they were just "ok." She and I are no longer friends.

Ghost Watches are cooler: I picked up Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass for my poor neglected DS for my many travels the past month. So far I am pleasantly surprised, despite the mad amounts of adulation it has received. I didn't think I would like the touch aspect, but it works very well, and I now find myself with my foot in my mouth... ya know, again. I only have 2 complaints so far, and that is the constant need to return to that first temple and go through the entire thing again and again with a time limit, and the inability to quickly swap items. Also, the roll mechanic doesn't seem to work that well. Overall, more fun than I had with Wind Waker at first thanks to the new draw-to-sail mechanic, but it doesn't have the same magic and appeal, and I think I am already halfway through at about 8 hours of play, with 3/4 of the map uncovered.

Found Iliad: I have decided that the next game I am buying will be Lost Odyssey for the 360, which comes out this week. Every review and preview I have read has 1 main complaint, and that is that it is too "old school" or too "late 90s" for a JRPG. Well guess what? That is EXACTLY what I want. I am skipping Mass Effect and Blue Dragon (and Xenosaga 3 and Rogue Galaxy... geez I am behind...) in favor of Lost Odyssey for the time being. Hopefully it will be the right choice for my preferences. I will let you know how that turns out.

That be all for now. I will update again in another 3 weeks or something....

I've Got My Orange Crush...

Wow, crazy few weeks there folks! Lots going on, not much time to game. But when the gaming and fun have taken place, the time was well spent. Progress is theme tonight folks, so let me break it down for you:

First and foremost, I am officially "good" on Hard in Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Emphasis on Rock Band. I have 5 starred all but 5 songs (from the main list) in Rock Band on Hard, and am starting to get into Expert. I honestly never thought I would get the hang of it all, but just like training to get the blue button down, the orange button has succumbed to my whims and... well, why be subtle... the orange button is my bitch now. I own it. As a matter of fact... I pwn it. Guitar Hero 3 is still brutal on Hard, but Rock Band was the perfect way to get into the groove of the orange button.

Speaking of Rock Band, how much does this downloadable song thing rock?! A lot, that is the quantity I was going for. From Oasis to Blink 182 to STP, every week Harmonix puts out at least 1 good song that is more than worth my $2 or so. Every tuesday I am assaulted with questions about what new songs I bought, and I am nothing but excited about what may come next. Harmonix have proven that QUALITY pieces can be released on a regular basis, no excuses.

Speaking of excuses, I have none. I spent $25 (half priced!) and re-bought Guitar Hero 2 for the 360. It is rather shocking how different each of these games (GH3 vs RB vs Gh2, etc) is from the last, even if they are made by the same people for the most part. GH2 shows a lot of notes on screen at once, and the colors are horrendous in HD. It is hard at times to see which note to press because the yellow note is the same color as the fret board, or because the blue note is actually white instead of blue. This should have been tweaked on the 360 to make the colors work better, because they officially suck.

One reason why I re-bought it is because I wanted to see how the DLC there turned out (love the My Chemical Romance) and also because I am officially an achievement whore. Which is one reason I also rented Tony Hawk: Project 8. I miss the old Tony Hawk games with simple goals and progressive learning and skills. Project 8 has some good points, and controls beautifully, but I am tired of all the sandbox crap that every game seems to want to do. Nothing in the game is unique enough to make it stand out. It took me at least 6 hours before I could find my way around the game because of the lack of a good map. Still better that Skate's 1000000 square mile bore fest town, but too much gets opened up at once and can get overwhelming. The most fun I have had is doing the classic goals in each area. Also, what is up with the frame rate when going from one area to another? The game practically freezes at points. Yes, this is a first gen 360 game, and I am sure the newer games are much improved, but you can lose a line from these horrendous loads.

That is all for now. Time to go and sing some Wonderwall (my arms are killing me). Also, if anyone own an air hockey table and wants to get embarrassed, let me know. Later.

Sweet Charity...

Hey big spender (props if you get the reference) mind if I use this soapbox for a quick second? We often read, see and hear about different charities, but how often do we actually take a moment to contribute? Lazy like me but want to make a difference? Here is a quick way:

http://www.nothingbutnets.net/

For only a single contribution of $10, a bed net will be sent to a family in Africa, where mosquitoes quickly spread malaria. A simple net will let people sleep easy at night, and help prevent the spread of this disease. It takes 2 minutes and $10, that is all, it doesn't get any easier.

Thanks for listening, and thanks for contributing. Now back to your regularly scheduled weird video game and anime related posts.


< /rant >

HOLY FIRGING SHNIT!

On Witchblade, the anime, in the 11th episode, Masane, the bearer of the Witchblade, just SHOT A SWORD OUT OF HER CROTCH INTO HER ENEMIES CROTCH WHILE HER ENEMY STOOD OVER HER!!!! SHE STABBED THE CHICK IN HER VAGINA WITH A VAGINA BLADE!

Click to embiggen

That is all for now....

It's Been One Week....

One week into the new year, and honestly, not that much has happened at all that is good and happy. However, I felt like updating, so I figured I would just start typing and seeing where it led me. So what have I been up to this year? In alphabetical order:

Bleach: Bleach is coming back in March! This Saturday, Adult Swim started airing the reruns from about 8 episodes back from where they last aired new episodes. Doing the math, I figured out that new episodes would start airing on March 1st. I then looked at Adult Swim's schedule and confirmed it. I am often curious why certain shows only get dubbed to a certain point in the series, for example, directly in the middle of a huge plot segment, but such is the anime industry I guess.

Brownies: Long story short, my family was given several slabs of professionally made brownies. Now, I thought it impossible to tire of brownies, but I have been proven wrong. Please, keep your brownies away from me... ya know, for a week or two at least.

Death Note: I apologize, Death Note. When first I watched you about 5 months ago, I hated you. Thought you were too weird and cheesy/dramatic to be any good. Out of pure habit, I accidentally watched your 3rd episode because Bleach used to be on in your time slot. I liked it. I like it a lot. I am now humbled before your tension filled convoluted plot. Please don't disappoint me!

Rock Band: My office is obsessed with Rock Band. It doesn't hurt that we have a big media room with an HD Sony projector and 120" screen. Even the young women of high class, who would rarely dabble in the video game world, are addicted. On a personal note, I am about half way through the solo drum tour on Hard (because it is really hard) and about 75% of the way through guitar on Hard. Yes, I play guitar on Hard now, and I don't do too bad to be honest :) Pretty soon I hope to play Hard exclusively, but we will see how I fare in a group atmosphere compared to the solo aspect, because I have found myself the appointed "leader" and must watch other players play to help out a bit, namely sing along with the songs and let people know when to use Overdrive. I see it as a compliment, but I would like to take a backseat and just play sometimes.

Sweeney Todd: Finally got a chance to see Sweeney Todd, and I was both pleased and disappointed. Pleased in how well the movie worked and how well it was done. Depp did a great job with the character, and I often forgot it was him playing Todd, quite a feat for such a famous face. Disappointment showed up from the lack of music. While there was plenty of music and singing in the movie, some of my favorite songs, especially The Ballad of Sweeney Todd, were not included in the film. Yes, I am slightly biased in that Tony Head and Christopher Lee were to play the singing ghosts, but I would have still loved to see the songs and heard them performed by these extremely talented men. Overall, a good movie and very very well done.

Witchblade: I finally found the time to get back into the Witchblade anime. The 2nd volume has been sitting on my shelf since November. It still is nothing special, a lot (and I mean A LOT) of gratuitous butt and boob shots and silly dialogue, but it is fun, and is weaving a good tale. I am very curious to find out about Masane's past, if Rihoko is really her child, if she picks Tozawa or Takayama romantically, etc. I am picking up the 3rd volume tonight, and will probably watch it this week.

You're the Best Around! Nothin's Ever Gonna Keep ya Down...

Figured I would make a little BEST OF THE REST of 2007 thingie. FUN WORK BOREDOM TIME!

Best things I put in my mouth:
Rosati's and Cane's. WAAAAY too close to pick a winner, just don't eat both at the same time. But who ever thought I would like a Chicago based pizza over NY/Philly style?

Best moments in gaming:
Metroid Prime 3's controls. Knights of Cydonia in Guitar Hero 3. Super Paper Mario's 2d/3d flip ability. Super Mario Galaxy's star bit collecting. FINALLY beating Green Grass and High Tides on Medium drums in Rock Band. The opening level of God of War 2. Everything about Portal, especially "speedy thing go in, speedy thing come out" and of course, Still Alive.

Best movie moments:
Any time that Megan Fox appeared on screen. Superbad's "It's like a division sign" line. Charlie Wilson meets Gust in Charlie Wilson's War. 300. Luna Lovegood in HP:OotP. Beowulf in IMAX 3D.

Best on-stage moments:
Spamalot. Sarah Silverman's "old Jewish women vs young black men" bit. Dave Matthews after much consideration.


That's all I have for now. Might find some more fun to put up later, but who knows, maybe this really was everything that happened to me this year.

If you feel like dancing...

Considering I rarely talk about music here, I figured I would end 2007 with a list of my favorite music from the past 365 days or so. So, without further ado, here is my list of 2007’s best music. Click on a song’s name to listen to it on YouTube.

EDIT: Just remember that The Shins album, Wincing the Night Away was a 2007 release. I will give "Phantom Limb" the "best song named after my favorite Venture Brothers villain" award.

Best song of the year, period, end of story:
Paramore- Misery Business
Wow, where did Paramore come from? The incredibly energetic and pumping Misery Business still gets me going whenever I hear it. This is my absolute favorite song of the year, hands down. Take into account that the average age of a Paramore band member is just 19, and it makes it even more impressive. I hope Paramore isn’t a one hit wonder, and that teeny tiny Hayley keeps belting out that big voice.

Best song to sing at the top of my lungs:
Jimmy Eat World- Big Casino
Close contender for song of the year. Jimmy Eat World is back after the mediocre 2004 Futures album. The entire album, Chase the Light, is a solid effort, but Big Casino is the best song Jimmy and the boys have put out since A Praise Chorus.

Best album of the year, even if no single song stands out:
Radiohead- In Rainbows
In Rainbows has made a big impact due to it’s “screw the record companies and download the album online only” trip this year, but it is also the best overall album of the year. Just like OK Computer, Radiohead knows how to put together a complete package that acts more like 1 single 45 minute song, instead of a series of different tunes.

Best song that was written while high:
Modest Mouse- Dashboard
“Even needs have needs, tiny giants made of tinier giants. Don't wear eyelids so I don't miss the last laugh of this show.” ‘Nuff said.

Best “we don’t usually do this kind of song” song:
Linkin Park- Shadow Of The Day
Also could have won the “most fun to sing the harmonies” song. Shadow of the Day is a great softer song from Linkin Park.

Best “this sounds NOTHING like our last single” song:
Finger Eleven- Paralyzer
Everyone has felt this way before, being completely ignored by someone you want to get the attention of, and Finger Eleven put a humorous and rocking twist to the idea.

Best song that sounds nothing like our old music, but rocks anyway:
Matchbox Twenty- How Far We’ve Come
A clever music video compliments a solid performance. For those who can’t tell just by listening, the old drummer is now the rhythm guitar player.

Best sweet and heart warming song:
Ingrid Michealson- The Way I Am
Just listen to this woman sing, and you will feel the the love.

Best “who resurrected Freddy Mercury?” song:
Mika- Grace Kelly
If you thought The Darkness was the new Queen, Mika takes the crown (or is it a tiara) for the glam rock sound of the year.

Best original theme song to a TV series:
Barenaked Ladies- Big Bang
BNL doing what they do best: great harmonies, clever lyrics, and lots of energy.

Best song that makes me want to eat a lot of granola
Eddie Vedder- Hard Sun
Vedder's premier track from the Into the Wild soundtrack makes me feel like lighting a camp fire, playing the guitar in a tie-dye shirt, and having some trail mix.

Best harmony that is better than the melody:
Foo Fighters- The Pretender
Foo Fighters disappointed me with 2005’s In Your Honor double disk set (don't get me started on the need to install software to listen to it on a PC), with Best of You being the only good song out of the 20 found on the album. They came back with a vengeance on E,S,P&G. The Pretender also wins the best DLC song of the year for Guitar Hero 3. Oh, and CLICK HERE to see me brag a bit.

Best song I fell in love with in 2005 that became way too popular this year and kind of ruined the fact this was my favorite song for years:
Plain White Ts- Hey there Delilah
I think the title said it all. I have loved this song for years (the original version…) and am actually disappointed that it became so main-stream. It used to be my favorite song, but now I feel funny when I hear it on the radio. I feel like one of those indie music guys, complaining that a song is popular, but I can’t control how I feel.

Best follow up song to a breakaway hit:
Plain White Ts- Our time is Now
If you are going to get big like the PWTs, at least follow up and prevent being a one hit wonder (although, in theory, Hate was a bit of a hit). Great follow up to the explosion of Delilah.

Best “trust us, we know what we are doing” album:
Incubus- Light Grenades
Oil and Water
Dig
Anna Molly
Close contention in my mind to album of the year, but with a few less than “stellar” songs (ha, I made a funny!) Great series of fantastic singles prove that Incubus can write a lot of good music.

It's like a storm... of metal...

One of my favorite games on the original NES is Metal Storm. Haven't thought about this game in a long while, but the recent Racket Boy article about games that pushed the NES to it's limits had me reliving my younger days. Check out the "Happy Video Game Nerd" review of it below.

Rock Lobster!

My desk at work rocks. Click to embiggen:

Mid-season Report Card...

Alright children, before you run off and enjoy the Chrismahanakwanzakah break, it is time to hand out report cards. Some of you did very very well this semester, and some of you are Heroes. A lot of you are not that unique, but do what you do so well that you stand out. Some of you have finally hit your stride and couldn't be doing better. So many of you are doing such a great, wonderful and incredible job. And again... some of you are Heroes. So let me hand out your report cards and see who is doing well, and who is sucking big time *cough* Heroes *cough*.

Subject: Sundays
Overall Grade: C
Mediocrity, thy name is Fox
Family Guy, Simpsons and American Dad (Fox) C- Yes, I lumped these 3 together, because they are all performing the same. A good episode peppered with 3 or 4 turds in between. American Dad is the most consistent of the bunch, but unlike Family Guy and Simpsons doesn't have any big standout episodes. Nothing to write home about, but nothing terrible either. Each gets a C.

Subject: Mondays
Overall Grade: B
Two surprises and one huge disappointment start my weeks off with confusion.
The Big Bang Theory (CBS) A- Holy crap, where did this one come from? TBBT is the Super Mario Galaxy of TV: nothing that new, nothing that unique, and nothing that original, but done so spectacularly well, it shines through the muck that surrounds it. For those out of the know, take 1 big hearted physics nerd, add 1 Aspergers roommate, a spoonful of Gynephobic Indian, a dash of smarmy Jewish gamer, and finish it off with a sweet, naive young blonde, and you get the best written dialogue this side of a Joss Whedon WGA speech. No question, an A.
Chuck (NBC) B- Chuck has surprised me. While nothing amazing yet, it has managed to capture my attention. The acting is what makes this so good, especially Zachary Levi, Joshua Gomez and, of course, the incomparable Adam Baldwin. A good action/comedy movie in TV format, and just a fun ride.
Heroes (NBC) D- What the f*&k happened here? To agree completely with another friend and fan of the show, Peter is a moron. Peter is like my pug Inky. He follows those around him blindly if treated nice, and doesn't realize his potential or what he is capable of, and will sooner piss on the floor than take the time to think about his actions. Hiro's storyline sucked just as badly. While the last 3 episodes before the finale were pretty decent and well done, it doesn't make up for the other 8 or 9. I enjoyed the ultimate Adam/Kensei storyline ending that came around, but there were just too many other issues with this season to make it salvageable. Tim Kring has promised a completely revamped 3rd chapter, as was clear by the rushed finale. Let us hope he can bring back the magic. Oh, and I could care less if Nikki is dead or not.

Subject: Tuesdays
Overall Grade: A
Tuesday nights are, as they have been since Full House aired in 1987, my favorite night of TV each week.
Reaper (CW) B- Reaper has been a mixed bag full of one trick ponies. I want to love this show more... Almost every episode follows the same formula, something that is usually reserved to children's shows. Each episode, although very similar to the last, has enough in it that is unique and special to make me look forward to this every week, but the writers better start showing something more if I am to keep watching.
House (Fox) A+ - House is currently the best program on television. 'Nuff said... but when have I been known to keep quiet? The competition that House put the applicants through was a great idea, and a lot of fun. And, not to brag, but 2 of the 3 people I said he would pick, he picked. Sometimes change is good, and House has gone through some great changes this year.

Subject: Wednesdays
Overall Grade: B-
Further proof that NBC really knows what it is doing this year.
Bionic Woman (NBC) B- -Bionic Woman is another Chuck. Nothing overly great, but just a lot of fun and a good time. It also doesn't hurt that Michelle Ryan is not only absolutely gorgeous, but a genuinely good actress. And to confirm my suspicions, she is British, and doing a nearly flawless American accent. I would like to see more of the secondary characters get fleshed out more, and completely rid of the horrible acting of Katee Sackhoff/Sarah Corvus (sorry Battlestar fans!).

Subject: Thursdays
Overall Grade: B
Swan songs and dead ducks.
CSI (CBS) D- To quote myself, from September, "Why do I still watch this show?" I wish I was kidding when I say that EVERY episode has AT LEAST one "big boobs" joke... I love boobs as much as the next guy (maybe more) but grow up and be a drama with good writing, not childish jokes.
30 Rock (NBC) B- This show has yet to disappoint. A Scrubs meets the Office style show, I am sad to say I missed the first half of the first season. Tina Fey is the best, Alec Baldwin is still legitimately funny, not forced, and no character is useless or not funny. Good job 30 Rock!
The Office (NBC) A- Consistently the best written show on television, despite my early whining. A true character based sitcom that is as close to perfection as you can get. I am disappointed to say that Pam's character has plateaued and is no longer a lot of fun to watch, even though she is now always forced into tight sweaters. Now that she is with Jim, she has blossomed, but has become dull. That is, however, my ONLY complaint.
Scrubs (NBC) B- Thank goodness the writers came to their senses here. Scrubs doesn't have to be one crazy and goofy joke after another. They have yet to find that magical 2nd/3rd season magic they once had, but this is a large improvement over last year's super goofy attitude. The characters are adults this year, and are realizing that themselves. It's nice to see Scrubs mellow out and go back to what made it fun in the first place.


On a serious, closing note, I just wanted to add that, despite that so many shows will not be returning to TV as soon as I would like, I completely agree with the current writers guild strike. These extremely talented men and women should be paid for everything they create, regardless of whether it airs on national TV, a website, additional DVD content, and should be paid proper royalties without question. How Hollywood has not signed a deal yet is beyond me, but I will enjoy these shows much more knowing that the amazing talent behind my favorite shows are being compensated for their amazing body of work.