1966-2004...

You Put Your Weed In It

If you're not watching the new Showtime series Weeds you're missing the best show on TV right now. I can only truthfully say that because Six Feet Under wrapped last week, but hey...

Weeds is a modern-day morality play, with a young widow (Mary-Louise Parker) fighting to make the best of a bad situation by doing something that is obviously ethically-challenged. Since her husband's death has left her with no income, and since she was a stay-at-home mother for almost twenty years with little work experience, she has turned to selling "weed" to the suburban peoples.

The writing is superb, and I liken the style to Desperate Housewives, but since it is on cable, the realism is increased through the use of real language. I know that it's a sad commentary that realism can only be acheieved by saying "fuck" repeatedly, but that's another story for another day. The acting is superb, and I suspect that some of the actors, especially Kevin Nealon (the pothead city councilman) and Tonye Patano (the weed wholesaler), get Primetime Emmy nods next year.

I don't want to give away too many of the plot details, but if you're interested, the show plays 3 times a week on Showtime, and if you missed the first three episodes, I'm sure they'll release the whole season on DVD, or you could always look out there on the intarweb.

2005 - The Year Television Stopped Sucking

It's amazing to me, either I've been completely asleep, or this year has just been incredible in terms of the quality of entertainment that's coming out on the ol' boob tube.

Either the creatives are getting fed up with the idiocy of the big-screen world (cause lord knows Hollywood has sucked some serious ass this year) but there's some really good stuff to watch these days.

This year I've gotten totally hooked on: 30 Days, Weeds, Boston Legal, The Office, Desperate Housewives, and to a lesser extent, Grey's Anatomy. I was boycotting Grey's for a while, bitter that they took Boston Legal off for it, but towards the end of the season I got into it as well.

Couple that with the fantastic seasons of really great shows like Entourage, Six Feet Under, 24, and of course The Daily Show, and I've been in TV heaven.

Apparently the trend is going to continue this fall as well, with some shows I'm really looking forward to. My Name Is Earl (starring Jason Lee) is going to be on in Scrubs' spot on Tuesdays leading into The Office (which thankfully got renewed) on NBC, this new "Rome" series on HBO which looks interesting, a new series from the guy that created the Office on HBO as well.. Should be interesting.

If you're not watching Weeds on Showtime -- you're missing out. The pilot got me hooked last week, and I haven't watched last night's episode yet. Perhaps this week I'll give you the lowdown on it. Basically, it's what Desperate Housewives could be if it was on HBO. Fantastic.

The Worst Year Ever

I personally get quite upset when people make fun of the NHL. Ice Hockey is a fantastic sport, both to play and to watch. The lack of hockey for the last year has been quite painful for me, because it's an activity that I enjoy. Some people say that sports are a soap opera for men. Ok, they may be talking about the WWF or NASCAR, but still, hockey has its own share of drama, lockouts notwithstanding.

My favorite team, the New Jersey Devils, have had entirely too damn
much drama this "offseason".

First, Patrik Elias, the Devils' top scoring threat on the wing, contracted Hepatitis-A from eating bad food while he was playing in Russia during the lockout.

Then, Scott Gomez, the Devils' #1 center, gets his pelvis broken by some fucktard life-long bushleaguer while playing in the ECHL for his hometown Anchorage Aces. To call it gutless would be an understatement. The guy ran him from behind, checking him into the opened bench door. If I ever have the opportunity, I may just try to hit that guy with my car.

Next up for my boys - some nutcase State Assemblyman wants them to change their name, because, since he's a Baptist Minister, it offends him greatly.

Then, just as positive news comes out that the new CBA may be making progress, the word comes out that 2004/05 contracts will not be honored.. In a nutshell, that means that the Devils' best defenseman, Scott Neidermayer, will become an unrestricted free agent when things start back up again. I'm sure some team will overbid for him, so his days as a Devil are likely over.. Thanks for the memories, Nieder.

Which brings us to today, and more bad news. The team announced today that Pat Burns, the head coach of the team during their cup run in 2003, and who was diagnosed with cancer at the end of the 2004 season, has been diagnosed with cancer again. This just flat sucks. His doctors had declared him cancer-free just 4 months ago, but during a recent blood test, more cancer was detected.

Quite honestly, I can't take this anymore. After winning 3 cups in 10 years, it looks like dark days are ahead for the Devs. I hope not, but for right now, it certainly seems that way.

You Know That You've Done Something Right...

...when you've pissed everyone off.

The Supreme Court proved that one this week. First they toss property rights out the window with Kelo, and make the internet illegal with Grokster. I'm not even going to get into the ramifications of these cases, but if you're interested, there's a ton of coverage out there.

For Kelo vs. City of New London, get your McNews here. For MGM vs. Grokster, go here.

For something I'm a little more passionate about than the MAN trampling on property rights and innovation, there's the NHL. Over the weekend, Jeremy Roenick, who I've always quasi-enjoyed as a personality, if not a player (mainly cause he always played on teams that my team was a rival of) basically went apeshit at Mario Lemieux's golf tournament.

To quote:

If people are going to sit and chastise pro athletes for being cocky, they need to look at one thing and that's the deal we're going to be signing in about three weeks.

Pro athletes are not cocky. Pro athletes care about the game. Everybody out there who calls us spoiled because we play a game, they can kiss my ass.

I will say personally, to everybody who calls us spoiled, you guys are just jealous. We're trying to get this thing back on the ice and make it better for the fans.

If you don't realize that, then don't come. We don't want you in the rink, we don't want you in the stadium, we don't want you to watch hockey.

My friend T says it's from the head injury.. Personally, I think JR is dead on.

Random Thoughts

Been kinda busy lately with work, I apologize for the lack of updates to the two or three of you that are actually checking this thing.



If you're not watching Entourage on HBO you're missing out. I liked it last season when it was on, but it was one of those things where if you blinked, you missed it. The new season seems to have a little more support from the Home Box, with much snappier writing and a few more cameos (in 2 episodes, they've had Gary Busey (hysterical), Amanda Peet, and Jaime Pressly). My wife isn't into it, which means I get to watch the 2am TiVo version, but hey...

If you missed season one, it's out on DVD, or I'm sure if you know how to use the intarweb you can find a torrent :) They're replaying the first two episodes of season 2 on Friday night, so catch up on those that way or by the above mentioned "methods".

My overall take: The chicks are hot, the dialogue is sharp and smart, and the acting is great. Best show on TV right now, IMHO.

In other news, I think the NHL may actually manage to dislodge its collective head from its ass and get a new CBA done. "Ecklund" has had some nice news to speak of lately. It should be interesting to see how they handle the draft for Sid Crosby since there wasn't a season. It'd be nice if my Devils got him, it'd almost make up for the pitiful "off-season" they've had. Aside from the good news of the new Arena in Newark, they've had a State Assemblyman want to change the name of the team, their best scoring winger get Hepatitis-A from bad food in Russia (which of course, would never have happened but for the lockout) and their best offensive center break his pelvis due to a cheap shot while playing in Alaska (...yes again wouldn't have happend...)

I don't care what the hell anyone says, I miss the game, and despite the fact that I may not go to a game for a while, I'll still be watching as much as I can when it's back.

Saturday Morning Cool Shit

Every Saturday morning I'll be linking the coolest things I've found during the previous week. It could be anything from funny message board posts, neat shit like Yoda Origami, or news that is actually good.

This week's installment:

Yoda Origami
BoingBoing posted a link to a guy that figured out how to make Yoda out of origami. It's badass!

Intel Really Plans To Buy Apple?
Robert X. Cringely postulates that the reality behind Apple's switch to Intel processors is really about Microsoft, and that Intel plans to acquire Apple to, more or less, create the lesser of two evils.

It is the legendary Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field at work. And this time, what's behind the announcement is so baffling and staggering that it isn't surprising that nobody has yet figured it out until now.

Apple and Intel are merging.

Check out the full article. It's an interesting perspective.

More Mac Envy
I completely want to buy a mac. I have to get it through the finance committee (aka my wife), but I totally have Mac envy. This week's source of it? A Dashboard Widget that lets you track your Netflix account. It's just badass all the little cool shit you can do with Tiger.

On a side note - my birthday is a month from Tuesday.. Someone hook it up! ;)