TV Update: Ringer, Up All Night, H8R, Big Brother, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Scared Straight

Here is a recap and review of a bunch of the shows I have watched, am watching, or have decided not to watch.

First is Ringer starring Sarah Michelle Geller.  I didn't know much about this show, but I read a description that looked interesting so I checked it out.  I made it about 8 minutes into the first episode and decided I disliked pretty much everything about it. I won't be watching it. 

Next is Up All Night, a comedy with Will Arnett and Christina Applegate.  I like Will Arnett, but I have not liked Christina in anything after Married With Children.  She just looks so stressed out all the time like she is working too hard.  I watched some of the first episode and it didn't catch me so I won't be watching it. 

H8R is a show I found that oddly enough got zero promotion leading it.  It takes "haters" regular people who dislike a celebrity and then confronts them with the actual celebrity.  I watched the first episode and it was not bad.  It has not gotten good reviews, but I kinda liked it.  It's not required viewing, but if nothing else it on, I'll probably watch it. 

Big Brother wrapped up the season last week and Rachel won.  I was pulling for Adam, but Rachel deserved it.  She is a star, she worked hard and earned the title.  Overall good season.  I'm hooked on this show. 

Curb Your Enthusiasm finished their 10 episode season last week.  I have watched all of the seasons and this has been one of the weakest, if not the worst season yet.  I have said it before and I still think the show has run it's course.  I like Larry David, but I think it is time for him to try something new. 

Beyond Scared Straight is a show that concluded its season recently.  It is a reality/documentary show that takes youths who are on track to end up in jail and puts them through a tour or how prison life really is.  I really like this show because I like seeing kids who think they can do anything they want get a reality check and realize they can't and if they do, they will end up in prison.  The seasons are short, but this is one to check out. 

A couple more shows to recap.  Hell's Kitchen concluded with a new head chef, I can't even remember his name right now.  I was kinda pulling for Elise to win, but she didn't even get to the top 2.  I know she has a bad attitude, but I admire her drive to succeed.  Kitchen Nightmares is starting up this week so I will be watching that. 

America's Next Top Model is back with an al lstar season. I watched some of the first episode and it was ok.  This show is hit or miss.  It all depends on the contestants and the drama.  I'll check it out here and there if there is nothing on.

There are a lot of new shows coming out these next few weeks so there should be another recap coming soon.   

2011 Emmys Review

Being a fan of tv, of course I had to watch the Emmys.  I watched the red carpet show and then started watching the actual show.  About half way though I did flip over to 20/20 because they had a good episode, but I was flipping back and forth and I have read up on all the winners.  Here are my thoughts on the results.

I'm surprised that Modern Family gets so much support from the Emmys.  They won a lot of awards including best comedy series.  It's not a bad show.  It's watchable, but it not as good as people make it out to be.  I'll watch it if there is really nothing else on.  There are funnier shows on tv including The Office, Parks and Recreation, and one that no one seems to ever talk about or recognize, Rules of Engagement.  Rules should definitely get some recognition one of these days.  They have a lot of great characters and all the episodes are funny.

From what I saw, Jane Lynch did a pretty good job.  I like the opening number.  It reminded me how much I like tv!

One of my favorite parts was when they were announcing the best actress and all of the nominees walked up on stage when they called their names.  It was a little surprising to see Melissa McCarthy with, but I think she earned it.  I'm not a huge fan of Mike and Molly, but I think she is a great actress on that show.

One thing that bothers me is repeat winners on these award shows.  If you win one year, the next year, it should go to someone else.  The Emmys are a prized award and there are not enough opportunities to win one to keep giving it to the same person. For example the guy who hosts Survivor has won it the last 4 years.  WTF?  Why?  Your telling me he is so good that none of the other nominees deserve an Emmy?  I was hoping Kat Deeley would win it.  She is a great host and there is no reason why she couldn't have had the win. 

Same thing with the Amazing Race.  I know that show has won multiple times and it's not even good.  I have watched it on several occasions and for a reality competition show it is pretty boring.  There are so many better choice to win in this category.

Did anyone notice the little backgrond jokes that the announcer would say when the winners were walking to the stage?  Who's idea was this?  Everyone is clapping and no one is paying attention so it doesn't work.

I was happy that Kyle Chandler won for Friday Night Lights.  I have mentioned how I like this show in a previous blog.  He plays the role of the coach and he does and amazing job, so this award was well deserved.

Overall, I was a bit disappointed because many of the shows and actors I wanted to win did not.  It really is just opinionated when it comes to the selections and everyone has a different opinion, so who's to say who is right.  You don't need an award to validate your work as a person or as a show.  The fans support and viewership is what matters.

9-11 : My Experience Looking Back

Tomorrow is the 10 year anniversary of the September 11th tragedy so I thought I would write a blog about what I remember from that day.

I was a freshman in college and I was in my dorm room that morning with my roommate getting ready for classes.  We either had the tv on or someone told us to turn on the tv that morning because something big was happening live.  We watched as news reporters showed the towers giving out smoke.  No one really knew what was going on and it was like no one wanted to believe it.

I remember the towers crumbling thinking it just looked like a Hollywood movie.  Myself, and some of the other students on the floor watched in disbelief.  Even the custodian in the building stopped what he was doing and came into our room to watch. 

Once it was clear that it was a terrorist attack, we got a little scared.  Number 1, we lived in a large building and if those were the targets, we had something to be worried about.  Also, we thought that since this was a huge attack, they would have to start a draft and we would have to go into the military and fight. 

Looking back now and seeing all the new footage and stories on tv, I still get emotional about it.  I didn't even know anyone personally who was there, but I still feel great sadness from what happened to all those innocent people.

Even with all loss of that day, some good did come out of it.  It made our country more secure so the likelihood of something like this happening again is much less.  It also brought the country together as one.  That is what really stood out to me the most was how after that event, we were all on the same side.  Before that day, we had competitors and enemies here in our own country. After that happened, instantly, were were all close like brothers and sisters.

We will never forget that day, how we felt, and what we learned.  Even the new generation that was too young or not even born yet will learn about what happened from all the documentation and footage.  Hopefully nothing like that ever happens again.

Identity on the Internet - Meeting People and Relationships

I recently saw a special on tv about the movie Catfish which is a documentary about 2 people that met online, only one of them was completely lying about their identity. While I have never done anything like this, I did once meet someone online and develop a close relationship with. Here is what happened:

In the early 2000's, I joined a website called Bolt which was basically a social networking site that was popular before Facebook and Myspace. Bolt allowed people to make a profile and find other people with similar interests. I started searching for people who were fans of my favorite band. 

Before long, I had found a girl my age who also had the same favorite band as me. We started getting to know each other by sending messages back and forth. This went on for a long time, I'm talking years. We talked about everything, even things that we probably wouldn't talk about with anyone else. 

Although we were honest with each other, we had never even seen a picture of each other. When you develop a relationship like this where you get to know someone so well without even knowing what they look like, you start to create a picture in your head about what they look like. Naturally, the picture you come up with is ideal and probably not what the other person actually looks like. 

So one day years into our relationship curiosity got the best of us and we decide we were going to send each other a picture of what we looked like. So we did this and I think we were both kind of surprised. This person who we knew so well looked different than our imagined images in our heads. This kind of made things a little weird, but we still continued to talk. 

After some years went by, we started communicating less and less and the relationship started to fizzle out and eventually we stop talking. I think we both just kind of moved on to other things. 

It was still a good experience to have that relationship. I still have her contact information and maybe one day we will get back in touch.

Newspaper Comics Are Not Very Good

Just a quick rant about the comic section in the newspaper.  I get access to a newspaper every now and then and while I do check out the news, my favorite part is the puzzle section as I mentioned in a previous blog.  With the puzzles, there are always the comics. I read these sometimes and while some of them are moderately funny, others are not funny at all.

Some comics almost seem pointless and I wonder, who is writing these and why is the newspaper paying them to include them in the paper.  Not all comics are suppose to be funny.  There are those ones that are like an ongoing comic book drama.  The only problem it, they are a long story and only show 3 panes per day!  Most people don't have the patience to read a comic book even when they have the whole book.  Are there actually people that follow these series 3 images at a time?

I don't think they should get rid of comics, just make them better.  Only include funny ones.  They don't have to be the same comics and authors every day.  Or just include more puzzles and fun activities in their place.

By the way, I just posted a Dilbert comic for an example of a comic.  Dilbert is one of my favorites and usually pretty funny.  

Boating - My Experience

This past weekend, my dad and I drove up to a lake and rented a boat.  This is really the first time we have done this.  I did some research to get familiar with how to operate a boat, but I have not taken any courses on it.  They taught us the basics and before you know it, we were off.

I found it remarkably difficult to steer the boat, especially when going at low speeds and maneuvering around piers.  Once out in the open, it was much easier to control, but I was still uneasy.  I could see people easily getting into accidents with other boats, not to mention people fishing who are just parked out in the middle of the lake.

We went around the lake for an hour and brought it back in.  Getting the boat back to the exact right place was the biggest challenge.  I thought I was going to damage it somehow, but it was ok and we made it.

Overall it was a decent experience, but for the cost, and nervousness associated with it, I would not want to do it again, at least any time soon.  I would be more inclined to go on a boat tour if someone else was driving it.

I thought about it and I don't really see the big appeal with boating.  It is so much work just to get out there and what do you get out of it?  You drive around a lake.  It's a little fun.  Maybe it's something to do once in a while, but some people buy a boat and do this often.  I guess I'm just not a water person.

Puzzles: Crossword, Sudoku, Cryptoquote, KenKen

I solved my first Cryptoquote puzzle today!  Previously I had stuck with crossword puzzles and later ventured into sudoku, but today I tried out a cryptoquote just for fun.  A couple of my coworkers are really good at these, but I always thought they were impossible. 

Anyway, I gave it a shot and before I knew it I was getting several letters.  Clues kept popping up and I used logic to find out the letters.  Within about 10 minutes I had finished the whole puzzle!  It really feels good when you complete a puzzle like these.  I felt the same way when I finished my first sudoku puzzle.  I always thought those were tough until I finished one. 

I also complete my first kenken puzzle today. It was an easy one, so I didn't get too excited, but still it was cool, because I haven't done a lot of those. 

I still enjoy crossword puzzles, but I don't believe I have ever complete an entire one.  I have gotten close.

Some puzzles are better than others.  The crosswords in the daily newspaper are good.  However I have realized that some puzzles are not good.  For example, I bought a book of crossword puzzles on a whim because it was only a couple dollars and I saw it at the store.  Now I know why it was only a couple of dollars.  The puzzles are awful.  First, the patterns are almost all the same.  Second, the clues and words are just plain bad.

If you have some free time and you have not tried these puzzles, I highly recommend them.  They are good for thinking and can give you a sense of accomplishment if you complete them.