Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year's Resolutions

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2011 already!! Seems like the year was just turning over to .... 2000!

That good old Y2K bug that was going to infest and infect every computer in the known universe.

Never happened.

But I digress. It's time to make those 2011 New Year's resolutions that no one ever keeps (that I know of).

And it's time for mine.

And it's the exact same one I've been making for more than a decade, and that is ---

To only make ONE New Year's resolution.

And I just made it.

SO simple, and SO easy to keep!

Hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and financially secure 2011.

(i.e., "Live long and prosper.")

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

2011 Golden Globes Awards

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Jan 18th is the Awards ceremony. And I'm mostly apathetic about it. I rarely go to the movies, so no interest there. And the TV shows I like and watch regularly are almost never nominated (still angry that Lauren Graham and "Gilmore Girls" was never nominated for either a Golden Globes or an Emmy).

But to scan over the nominations --

Never saw any of the movies nominated (one exception) so I don't care about them or the actors or actresses in them. I did go see "Alice in Wonderland" in 3D, and I was sorely disappointed in it. Not sure what I was expecting but I can't deny the effects and 3D were pretty good. It's just that the story wasn't very exciting, or something.

TV nominations --

Never watched any of the dramas nominated except "The Good Wife." So I think it should win.

Four actresses nominated (in shows I watched) are Katey Segal for "Sons of Anarchy;" Piper Perabo for "Covert Affairs;" Juliana Margulies for "The Good Wife;" and Kyra Sedgwick for The Closer."

Kyra won last year, so she is eliminated. Piper was pretty good in "Covert Affairs" but not that good. So that only leaves Katey and Juliana. Both were VERY GOOD, and I can't decide who was better, so they should share the award.

As far as the guys nominated in dramas (I didn't watch), the only show I've seen is "House." But not regularly. I got tired of the same old formula - mysterious disease, lots of things tried to cure the patient but only makes things worse, the patient is eventually cured, and House is real dick.

So, I don't care who wins that category.

I don't watch sit-coms because they are never funny and mostly boring. So I don't care which show, or which man or woman wins or loses.

I don't watch mini-series.

So, basically I don't care about any of the categories except Best Performance By An Actress In a Televison Series - Drama.

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Saturday, November 27, 2010

TSA Pat-Downs

Since everyone seems to have an opinion about the airport pat-downs, here's mine --

Why not let those people getting patted down choose whether they want it done by a man or a woman? I know I certainly don't want some guy feeling ME up. If it's going to be done, I'd rather it was done by a woman, regardless of how unattractive or overweight she is.

And I'm sure there are women who would rather be felt up by a man.

(Of course I'm sure Lesbians and homosexual men would just as soon have it done by their particular gender).

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

Talking about the new showcase at Universal Studios in Orlando. (Actually, the HP thing is in the Islands of Adventure side).

Went there last week on vacation. Price wasn't too bad - a 3-day pass for two adults came to just under $300; cheaper than Disney. Parking from last year had gone up from $12 to $14 on Monday, then was $15 on Wednesday.

Just looking at the entire thing was more than impressive - The mountain-top where Hogwarts is was amazing! And Hogsmeade, the village, was also outstanding.

B U T

Although there are lines of shops, only four or five are really open, and you have to stand in line with 30 or 40 other people waiting to enter from one end (they are all connected) to walk through them, to shop, and then to exit the last one. A LONG wait. In fact no wait was shorter than an hour, except for the line to buy the famous Butterbeer. But there were still 20 -25 people in line, all the time. And I wasn't about to stand in the hot sun waiting to pay an outrageous price for what is essentially butterscotch soda.

However, the MOST outrageous cost was the price for a Harry Potter wand (basically, a handle, a 12 inch or so length of wand that looked like a stick, and something on the end (maybe it lights up). How much were they asking for this?


THIRTY DOLLARS ! !! !!!



Needless to say I didn't buy one.

The line to ride that wasn't a high-speed roller coaster led you back and forth and up and down just like the lines at Disney World. And after a half hour or more you actually got inside what was supposed to be Hogwarts. I kept hearing how wonderful it was, and how it was one of the highlights, but all I saw were a few talking pictures and cheap-looking video of Harry, Hermoine and Ron talking about stuff, but the quality was so bad I couldn't understand what they were saying.

On the ride itself we were following Harry on his broomstick, zooming up and down and careening all about. That was pretty cool. Then we went down into some cave and were twisted and jerked and dropped and it made my stomach churn a bit. The seats were moving up and down and etc, but we weren't actually zooming.

Maybe if I was a teenager I would have been more impressed with everything. I realize it cost millions to construct the exhibit, but it would have been better if we were actually able to explore more of Hogwarts on our own - the dining hall, the dorm rooms, etc. (seeing the moving staircases would have been cool).

Should you go? Certainly, if you are a Harry Potter fan. And if you don't mind long waits, crowds, and over-priced food and souveniers.

Would I go again? Maybe, in a year or two, when the new has worn off and the crowds are more manageable. And maybe if the prices have come down.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Ironman 2 . . . and Leslie Bibb

. I went to see the movie Ironman 2 this past Memorial Day weekend. And I have to say I really enjoyed it. The action was good and the special effects were good. And I had a good time. But there was one thing I was rather disappointed in - Leslie Bibb was only in one scene about a third of the way through the movie (she was in three scenes in the first Ironman movie - at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end).



For those of you who don't know who Leslie Bibb is, she first appeared on TV in 1996 on the show Pacific Blue. Then she was in 13 episodes of The Big Easy. But the first time I ever saw her was on the 1999 - 2001 TV series Popular as Brook McQueen. After that she was in eight episodes of ER in 2002 - 03. She also had recurring roles in Line of Fire, Crossing Jordan, and Kings. She has been in several movies, including Talledega Nights, Ironman and Ironman 2.

If you click on the title (Ironman 2 . . . and Leslie Bibb) it will take you to more of her pictures.
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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Say Goodbye to Parenthood

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Well, I tried. But I've decided that I just can't watch another episode of Lauren Graham's "Parenthood." It just has too, too many bad characters and too, too sorry dialog.

When Sarah, Lauren's character, was interacting with adults, she was fun to watch. But whenever she would have to deal with her bitchy daughter, or bland/blah son, she was horrendous. It's like the writers are trying to make her SO unlike Lorelai Gilmore, that they make her say and do things that make her unbearable and unlikeable.

The straw came for me when Sarah found her daughter in the shower with her scumbag boyfriend. And when Sarah was chewing her out about it, she let the daughter turn it around and make her (Sarah) feel guilty!

Pure crappola!

And the other characters -- the worst is Sarah's younger brother, Crosley or Crosby or something. He is a TOTAL waste! Maybe if he was played by another less goofy-looking, better actor he wouldn't be so bad.

Sarah's other brother - Adam, sometimes is okay and sometimes just grates.

The only two characters I do like are the two wives - the blond married to Adam, and the lawyer, whose husband is as bland as Sarah's son.

This is not the kind of show I would watch anyway, and now I won't even watch this one.
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Friday, April 23, 2010

"Parenthood" Episode "Rubber Band Ball"

I just got around to watching the latest episode and I have NEVER gotten SO pissed off SO fast at a character. I'm talking about Sarah (Lauren Graham) finding her daughter and her scumbag boyfriend in the shower.

I would have had his ass in jail so fast he would have thought the cops were parked in the driveway! And the daughter (who all of a sudden I hate again) would have been locked in the attic until she was eighteen.

But NO. Sarah lets her daughter turn things around and make HER feel guilty.

So when the dad (Craig Nelson) confronts the scumbag boyfriend all he does is try to bribe him instead of scaring the shit out of him. So Scumbag comes BACK and Sarah acts like she's the one who did something wrong! And she STILL lets the daughter go out with him!

I'm REALLY starting to dislike Sarah. Grow a pair or put your daughter up for adoption!

Fortunately, one OnDemand feature is the ability to fast forward, so I don't have to suffer through that wasteful Crosley/Crosby/ Dax crappola.

The thing with Dad and Adam was okay. And even the scenes between the two wives about Max and the gifted daughter I didn't mind.

If things don't get better in the next week or two there are two other shows on at the same time -- "V" and "The Good Wife" that are SO much, better I can watch.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Pedophile Priests

Can't help but read and hear about all the Catholic priests being accused of child molestation. I can't recall ever hearing about the Baptist, Protestant, Methodist, etc. ministers being accused.

So why just Catholics? Well, they are the only ones not allowed to get married. Maybe if they were allowed to have wives, then they would have a legitimate outlet for their sexual urges.

I'm sure none of them became priests just to have access to the alter boys and other young boys (I don't recall any girls complaining about being molested, but I could be wrong), so it must be the marriage restriction the Catholic church imposes on them.

Just a thought.

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Time to Chuck "Chuck"

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What I mean is that it's time to find another show to follow instead of "Chuck." For two seasons I watched the show and really enjoyed it, but for some reason, this season hasn't been particularly interesting.

EXCEPT when the gorgeous Kristin Kreuk (http://daviderl.com/KristinKreuk.html) joined the cast for a half dozen or so episodes. But once she left, the interest left with her.

I tried watching the latest episode where Chuck is now officially a spy and is being transferred to Rome. But he wants to get Sarah on his team even though she is with somebody else (played by Brandon Routh of Superman fame). And I lost interest when Casey, Awesome and his best friend decided to get Sarah and Chuck back together.

This just was NOT interesting. Maybe I'll give it another shot next week, but I'm not holding my breath that it will get better!

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Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Going to Hell -- Not So Bad?

Basically, I'm an atheist, but religion and God are pretty much so ingrained into everyday life, that one can't help thinking about stuff.

And one thing I was thinking about is the concept of going to Hell for being bad (lying, stealing, fornication, murder, child molestation). And I got to wondering -- Why would Satan punish people for doing his work (being evil)? Isn't that like God punishing priests and rabbis for doing his work (doing good)?

So it seems to me that it must be God who is in control of Hell, and not Satan. Which must mean that either there is no Satan, or God and Satan are one in the same.

Or there is no God and no Satan at all.
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How To Stop A Car When The Gas Pedal Sticks

The last few weeks there have been news stories about Toytotas and Priuses having problems with the gas pedals sticking and the drivers are unable to stop the cars.

They are joking, right? They really have NO idea what to do when the car is going too fast for the brakes to work??

Well, I have two SURE FIRE ways to stop the car.

#1. Put the car in neutral! Sure, the motor will still be racing, so then go to #2 .

#2. Turn the fucking key OFF ! !! !!! Yeah, the power brakes will no longer be powered, but all it takes is more pressure on the brake pedal and the car WILL STOP!

I know there are stupid people in this world, but surely they know that using neutral, or turning off the key, will let the brakes stop the car. And if they don't, then they DON'T need to be behind the wheel!
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Friday, February 12, 2010

Winter Olympics

First of all, let me say that as far as sports is concerned -- I have little to no interest. Don't care about football, don't care about baseball, hate basketball, etc., etc.

And now the stupid winter Olympics are screwing up television programming for the next two weeks. It seems like almost all the other stations feel they have to air reruns because they think the entire television viewing audience will not be watching their shows.

Well, they are wrong. The only thing I won't be watching are the Olympics. (And I would bet I'm not the only one who feels this way.)

But if I was going to watch, the only event I would tune in for would be Women's Figure Skating, but ONLY if the women wore thong panties under those short skirts. THAT would be the only thing that could possibly save one of the most BORING things ever shown on TV -- ice skating!!

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Jay Leno - Uninteresting Guests

Jay Leno is off the air until he re-takes over the Tonight Show on March 1st. And except for catching parts of his opening monologs, I never watched his show, mainly, because there was never anyone on that I really wanted to see.

And who would I have liked to have seen? Well, Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls); Lucy Lawless, Renée O'Connor, Hudson Leick (Xena: Warrior Princess); Shiri Appleby (Roswell and Life Unexpected); Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance (Smallville); Sarah Michelle Gellar, Michelle Trachtenberg, Alyson Hannigan, Eliza Dushku (Buffy the Vampire Slayer); Kristen Bell (Veronica Mars).

Well, I guess you get the picture. If any of the above lovely ladies had been on his show, I would have tuned for sure. As it was, no one he had on his show really piqued my interest.

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Friday, January 29, 2010

Abortion Doctor Killer Found Guilty

A quote from Fox News - "Jurors swiftly convicted an abortion opponent of murder Friday [Jan 29, '10] for shooting to death one of the only doctors to offer late-term abortions in the U.S., a killing the gunman claimed was justified to save the lives of unborn children."

The murderer's name is Scott Roeder, and I suppose that in his mind he was doing the right thing (don't ALL murderers and serial killers think that?).

I admit, I'm not a big fan of abortion (and it seems like the older I get, the less liberal I am about it), but the way I see it, being a man, it's really none of my business!

If a woman, for whatever reason, decides she wants/needs to get an abortion, then that is entirely between the woman and her conscience. I have no more right to tell her that she can or cannot have an abortion than she does to tell me what clothes to wear, or what kind of haircut I should get.

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Thursday, January 28, 2010

Leno, Letterman, O'Brien

Even though I have never regularly watched any of the late-night programming (because I have to get up at 5:30 a.m. to go to work), I am going to add my two cents.

I can't remember watching Jay Leno at all. I do remember watching David Letterman sometimes, maybe Friday nights. But I was watching Conan O'Brien regularly because (I think it was) MSNBC was airing the show five or six p.m. the next day. And after a while I decided to stop watching because I didn't really care for Conan. I got tired of his same entrance with his little jump and spin (or the other way around).

But I really got tired of the way he interrupted his guests, especially if it was someone I wanted to see. Everything had to be about Conan. If a guest was on for seven minutes, four of them was Conan interrupting to talk about himself. And every time, I would think how RUDE he is.

So, out of the three of them, I would choose David Letterman as my favorite.
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"Avatar" the Movie

For the second time in three weeks I went to see Avatar. Both times I went during the week to the 11 am matinee, and maybe, maybe there were ten people in the theater - just the way I like it. But before I get into the movie itself, I have to say there NEEDS to be an intermission. The movie runs about two hours and forty five minutes, and the last hour I was in PAIN, I had to pee so bad!

As for the movie, of course I paid the extra $3 for the 3D version (it would be stupid NOT to see it in 3D). And it was well worth it, the 3D was excellently done. About the only thing I could criticize, and there may not be any way to avoid it, was when things went by in a blur my eyes were a bit -- uncomfortable.

The story is nothing really new -- the bad guys want / need to get the indigenous people (the Na'vi) off their land so they can have it for themselves. In this case it was a very rich deposit of an element called Unobtanium, with sells for something like $2,000,000 (or maybe $20,000,000) per gram (or maybe kilogram) under their Home Tree.

The Hero, Jake Sully, takes his twin brother's place when he is killed as a "controller" of an Avatar. Avatars are grown (semi-cloned) using DNA from humans and the Na'vi. And there are a few differences in them. For instance, the Na'vi have three fingers and a thumb (ditto for their feet), the tank-grown Avatars have four and one.

As Jake, in the Avatar body, becomes more in tune with Na'vi and the jungle he takes on more of their ways and feelings, and eventually becomes one of them. But the Bad Guys (from Earth) decide Jake can't get the Na'vi to move from their Home Tree (where the ore is) and so they attack it, bringing it down with rockets (it stands forty or fifty stories tall, more or less). So Jake helps the Na'vi (and all the animals of the jungle) defeat, and send packing, the Earthings. And thanks to the link with the Na'vi's deity/goddess Jake permanent leaves his human body for his Avatar body.

And they lived happily ever after - until the sequel.

I really like the movie despite its length. And except for having to pee, the movie moved along and you (I) really didn't realize how long it was. And once into the story, the 3D was so natural you forgot about it until the story slowed down and once again you were aware of it.

And yes, I certainly DO recommend everyone go see it.

One last thing -- the female Na'vi wore next to nothing and, being male, I was checking them out, seeing if I could see anything that might be considered a nipple-slip / genital-slip. But since they were kind of paisley blue it was hard to tell. And of course, James Cameron only showed us what he wanted us to see.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Lucy's "Spartacus"

The first episode aired last Friday night. And it wasn't too bad, it won't be hard to keep watching. There was a lot of CGI blood and dismemberment - arms, legs and heads. Sometimes the blood was overdone - a guy got stabbed in the back with a trident and a bucket of blood filled the screen.

Lots of bare breasts. But only one instance of FFFN (full female frontal nudity). It was the actress Viva Bianca (she plays Ilithyia, the wife of Claudius Glaber (Craig Parker, who was Bellerophon in "To Helicon and Back") ). The other main character who showed her breasts was Erin Cummings (Spartacus' wife). Erin also has been in Bitch Slap, Nip/Tuck, Dollhouse, and a few other shows. And sometime in future episodes frontal male nudity is to be seen, or so I've read.

The episode ran 55 minutes but Lucy didn't show up until 40 minutes. But they had to show how Spartacus got captured.

The story in a nutshell --

Glaber was trying to get Spartacus and his village to join with the Romans to fight another tribe. They agreed, but were mostly "cannon" fodder. The evil tribe was heading toward Spartacus' village, but Glaber wanted them to attack a Greek general and his army in the opposite direction to further Glaber's ambition. They refused and beat up Glaber and left to protect their village.

Spartacus found his wife (although the village was burned to the ground) and they had a good night together (Spartacus' naked butt was shown a few times as he was humping Sura, and we got to see her very nice breasts.) The next morning, Glaber was there with some men, and Sura was enslaved and Spartacus was to be executed in an arena. He ended up defeating four gladiators and was to be sent to the gladiatorial school owned by (Lucy's) husband (that comes next week).

The nude scene(s) of Lucy will be sometime in the next few episodes since it wasn't in this one. It was nice that Lucy wasn't forced to use an American accent. She didn't have much to do in this episode, but I'm sure more of her story will develop as the episodes unfold.

The show was picked up for a second season even before this episode aired, which is good for us Lucy fans, but I'm sure if the ratings aren't there, Starz will pull the plug.

http://daviderl.com/ReneeOConnor.html

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Shiri Appleby's "Life Unexpected"

Watched the pilot episode last night, and it was ever bit as good as the promo clips promised. But then, I've never seen Shiri in anything she didn't do a good job with (okay, "Darklight" wasn't so hot, but her character, Lilith, left me wanting another TV movie or series). But as I stated in an earlier blog, I find Shiri very attractive (not to mention very sexy and delightful to watch).

All the characters were pretty likable, especially Shiri and Britt Robertson, who plays Lux (we never found out if that was a nickname or her real name}. Just a day or two after Cate's (Shiri's) boyfriend freaked out after finding out Cate had a kid, and she gave back the engagement ring, she (Cate) spent the night with Lux's dad - Baze. I guess this was to show us that Cate isn't perfect. And they reinforced that when she decided she wanted to do right by Lux, and then asked her boyfriend to marry her (he accepted). No doubt the night with Baze will come back to bite her in the ass (and what a NICE ass it is!!).

This is supposed to be "Juno" meet "Gilmore Girls" and I can see how the "Juno" part fits since Lux is somewhat savvy and precocious. But except for Cate having a daughter when she was 17 (pregnant at 16), I've yet to see the bond between Cate and Lux that there was between Lorelai and Rory. But I guess as the episodes unfold we will (should) see more of it.

This is one show I definitely will watch every week.

Friday, January 1, 2010

New Year's Resolutions ; The New Decade

And so a new year has come, and many of you will be making resolutions (if you haven't already) to improve your lives in the coming year(s). I used to do that, way back when. And I can't remember a single, solitary one. It may have been to stop smoking (which I did when I bought my first new car), or something else. And no doubt, whatever they were didn't last very long.

So, some years ago I decided to make only one resolution each new year, and that was -- to only make one resolution each new year. And it's the one resolution I have never broken.

This isn't to say there is nothing in my life I could improve on. I need to drop 20 - 30 pounds. Work as been VERY slow (construction) and I've only been working 15 - 20 hours per week. So I come home early and sit in front of the TV (with cable TV, daytime TV isn't so bad; I've picked out my fave shows) and my daily routine is set.

I don't smoke or drink (well, a few beers here and there, mostly when I eat things like hot wings, pizza, BBQ). I don't run the bars, and I don't do drugs. But I don't exercise like I should to help keep the pounds off, so I guess that is one thing I should resolve to do.

But like smoking or doing drugs, I will make the effort when I'm ready to, and not because I tell myself it's now time.

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One of the things I do on New Year's Day is to go through my check book (yes, I STILL write checks) and write the new year up in the right hand corner where the date goes so I won't write the old one without thinking. And as I was writing "2010" it felt very odd. I can't remember it feeling like that ten years ago when I was writing "2000." Maybe it's because I am ten years older, and I know I don't have as many years ahead of me as I do behind me. (And yes, I have passed the half century mark [and yes, I intend to live to be 100!] )

In other words, as someone somewhere once said (more or less), "I am becoming aware of my mortality." The future is approaching faster and faster, and I realize I won't be seeing as much of it as I did when I was younger.

Happy New Year. And let's all hope it will be a better one that 2009.