Blog Archives
Great websites about TV
Back in the day, when Freaks and Geeks was still on the air, but fighting for its life, I stumbled upon teevee.org, a smartly-written blog about, you guessed it, TV. The writing has fallen off of late, but it’s still worth a visit. The best feature used to be the dead pool, where readers could bet on which shows would be cancelled first, justly or unjustly.
From there, it’s a short hop,skip, and a jump to Television Without Pity, or Twop, where you can find recaps of your favorite shows that take longer to read than it does to watch the show (downloading time included). When you’re trying to keep the backstory on Veronica Mars straight, it’s a pretty invaluable resource. Of course, it’s a bad place to get spoiled as well, so be careful where you click.
A television site that has jumped the shark is, well, Jump the Shark. There’s some funny stuff here, but navigating the site is a nightmare.
Any other resources out there (other than KB, the definitive guide to all things pop culture, natch)?
Best character you love to hate
Brian G is onto something, even if he is tragically wrong about Veronica Mars. All of the great shows on TV right now have a character that you secretly love, even though they’re totally evil, or at best morally reprehensible. Gaius Baltar, Logan and Aaron Echolls, Sawyer — we wouldn’t want to be them, but they’re sure fun to watch.
Of course, this is nothing new. Who’s the best of all time?
Want a big head like Ken Jennings?
How about a big Ken Jennings head? It’s yours for the right price. Insert your own joke here.
He’s got a new book, a new blog, and a new message board too. The folks at M* were underwhelmed, but I know there are at least two Jeopardy! geeks here besides myself.
Things you don’t see every day
I was golfing with with my friend Brian this morning, and we were having a pretty miserable round. Balls in the water, balls out of bounds, chipping back and forth over the greens, every putt either a few inches short or burning the edge of the cup.
Things started picking up after making the turn. Read the rest of this entry
Hockey > Soccer
We’re at a great point in the sports calendar. The Stanley Cup finals are winding up, the NBA Finals are in full swing, the World Cup is getting underway, baseball is rolling along, the US Open tees off at Winged Foot on Thursday, and NFL quarterbacks are proving that they should probably wear their helmet off the field.
I’ve been enjoying watching the Carolina Hurricanes play over the past week. I don’t have cable or satellite tv, so the NBC broadcasts have been my first real chance to see them play all year. I have had the distinct pleasure of listening to Chuck Kaiton call their games on the radio, however. He’s one of the great voices in sports broadcasting. I watched the second half of the Sweden/Trinidad and Tobago match on Saturday as well, and was reasonably entertained as well, for a 0-0 tie.
I got to thinking about why I like hockey so much more than soccer. Read the rest of this entry
I’ll take Nerds for $800, Alex
It’s pretty much de rigeur in the decade of the blogger – if you audition for a contestant spot on a game show, you must blog about it. So here’s my story. Read the rest of this entry
What should I watch this summer?
There will be no new episodes of LOST for the next few months, and my wife and I are already over halfway through the first season of Veronica Mars — I imagine we’ll be caught up in a few more weeks. We don’t watch much TV, but we are finding that watching shows on DVD is much fun. We’re already thinking about what we should watch after VM — any suggestions?
LOST puts on the waterskis and leather jacket
Instant reaction: the finale of Season 2 not only failed to live up to the hype, it gave viewers a reason to get off of the bandwagon.
Spoilers after the jump, so don’t read until you’ve watched (or save yourself 90 minutes and just read).
Calculating the value of pi, part III
x = (Pi+3)/2
2x = Pi+3
2x(Pi-3) = (Pi+3)(Pi-3)
2Pix-6x = Pi^2-9
9-6x = Pi^2-2Pix
9-6x+x^2 = Pi^2-2Pix+x^2
(3-x)^2 = (Pi-x)^2
3-x = Pi-x
Pi = 3
Zhang Yimou to direct opening, closing ceremonies at 2008 Olympics
Kulturblog fave Zhang Yimou has been tapped to oversee the opening and closing ceremonies at the 2008 Olympics. He has committed to the project full-time, saying that he will not direct any new films until after the Olympics are over. He will finish his current project, “The City of Golden Armor.”
Steven Spielberg has also signed on as a creative consultant.
All I can say is that taking two years out of a directing career to produce an overblown production that would be more suitable for the Vegas strip seems like a baaaaad idea from my perspective. Who cares about national pride? I want my movies!
