(yes I posted this on August 1st, but I am back dating due to 1. my site kept going down 2. my cable service went out as soon as my site was back up = not my fault)

Got the Western Digital 250gb external hard drive I talked about last week. It’s back to it’s normal price of $156.95 this week, so glad I swooped in and picked it up at $99! Still amazes me though how cheap storage is getting. We all seem to need more and more of it. I now have a 250gb internal hard drive, 2 Maxtor External 300gb drives, a Seagate 250gb drive and now the Western Digital 250gb hooked up to my computer. So I am running 1200gb, or 1.2tb of storage. Yikes.

Now, I admit some of that is because I am a worrier. My 100gb of music I mentioned recently? That resides on one of the Maxtor drives…and is backed up on the Seagate…and now the Western Digital. Yeah, I’m running 3 copies of my music, so sue me. My view though is I have spent a considerable amount of time building that collection, if one drive fails, I want to make sure I don’t lose all those files! That would suck beyond belief.

Do I think I have too much storage? No. You can NEVER have too much storage.

I was cruising the new Amazon Grocery Store for a future blog entry idea I had, when I stumbled across something…

THEY HAVE BOO BERRY!!!!!!

For those unfamiliar with the wonders of Boo Berry, it was introduced in 1975 with Frankenberry, Count Chocula and Fruit Brute. Fanken and Count met with decent success, but Boo Berry and Fruit Brute stumbled, but Boo Berry kept just enough sales to say active. In 1983, General Mills discontinued Fruit Brute, but kept Boo Berry around in limited production. (the last of the “Monster Cereals” was Yummy Mummy, who popped up in 1974 and again in 1988)

Over the past few years, finding Boo Berry has been a chore. Sometimes Hy-Vee would have it, but it looks like they’ve dropped it now. Wal-Mart suddenly has it, but never count on them restocking anything. I have no clue how long Amazon will have him in stock, but if I wasn’t trying to lose weight right now, I would’ve already placed my order darn it!

Luis over at BlogD was being all smart-assy today mentioning the blogs he reads that he hasn’t linked yet. Since he mentioned mine, I felt obligated to do something thought provoking…

Instead I ripped off a joke entry by CosmicBudhha, another blog Luis linked to. TAKE THAT LUIS!

24 is one of those shows you almost feel guilty watching. It is so improbable, so insanely over the top, you aren’t sure you’re enjoying it for story or sheer amazement at the next idea the writers pulled out of their ass. Keifer Sutherland plays Jack Bauer, a tough, take-no-prisoners agent of C.T.U. (Counter Terrorist Unit). The show is done in “real time”, with each season being only 1 day in the life of Jack.

In 5 seasons we have never seen Jack:
- Eat
- Sleep (well kinda, he took a power nap in the first season for like 30 seconds)
- Go to the bathroom

I think he’s had a drink of water here or there, but I can’t remember for sure. Combine this with his “unique” interrogation skills and his “I’d shoot you as soon as put up with you” attitude, has led to a massive cult following. Said cult have come up with a massive list of things Jack is capable of, including such gems as:

- The city of Los Angeles once named a street after Jack Bauer in gratitude for his saving the city several times. They had to rename it after people kept dying when they tried to cross the street. No one crosses Jack Bauer and lives.

- Passed out, surrounded by terrorists and nerve gas, and handcuffed to a table leg, Jack Bauer laughed to himself and said, “I have them right where I want them.”

- Jack Bauer doesn’t need to eat, sleep, or use the bathroom because his organs are afraid of making him angry.

- Lets get one thing straight, the only reason you are conscious right now is because Jack Bauer does not feel like carrying you.

And so on. You can check out the full list here. If you are fan of the show, you will laugh yourself silly. If you don’t watch the show, you will think everyone who does is clearly insane.

Use iTunes/Media Player to find out these statistics….

Total Number of Songs -
21350

Total Length of Music
91 days, 05 hours, 54 minutes, 45 seconds

Sort By Song Title :
First Song : ‘39 - Queen
Last Song: Zydeco X - BeauSoliel

Sort By Time:
Longest Song : Alphabet Street / Glam Slam / Anna Stesia / Dance On / Lovesexy / When 2 R In Love / I Wish U Heaven / Positivity - Prince And The Revolution
Shortest Song: Let’s Hear It For Nine Inch Nails - Nine Inch Nails

Sort By Artist:
First Song: Voices Carry - ‘Til Tuesday
Last Song: Legs (remix) - ZZ Top

Sort By Album:
First Album : ‘74 Jailbreak - AC/DC
Last Album : Zoot Suit Riot - Cherry Poppin’ Daddies

Sort By Last Played:
First Song : Peeping Tom - Placebo
Last Song : Waiting For The Weekend - Loverboy (stupid shuffle!)

“Sex” , how many songs come up? 116
“Love” , how many songs come up? 796
“Death” , how many songs come up? 185
“Hate” , how many songs come up? 82
“Wish” , how many songs come up? 198

YAY! 30 Days is back!

Frank George is a 55 year old from Mojave,CA. He was born in Cuba and immigrated to the USA when he was 7. Now Frank is a US citizen and he believes, strongly, that illegal immigration is wrong. He has gone so far as to join the Minutemen Project, patrolling the borders for illegal crossings. He heads off to East L.A. to live for 30 Days with the Gonzalez family (not their real names). He will A)give up all ID B)work as a day laborer C)he will live in their 500 square foot home for 30 Days with the 2 parents and 5 children. Fun!

Honestly, 90% of the enjoyment of this episode came from the discussions between Frank and 17-year-old daughter Armida. I would imagine most of this came from her ability to speak English (Frank does speak fluent Spanish), but their debates over immigration were fascinating to watch. Armida seems very intelligent and very passionate about the immigration, but so did Frank. The vast majority of their episode was their back-and-forth, with neither really giving an inch….until Frank headed to Mexico.

Rigorberto, the father, suggested Frank go see his brother in Mexico and see what was they had left behind. As he didn’t feel he would ever get such a chance again, he did so and found living conditions he didn’t feel were “fit for any human being”. (his words, not mine) As the episode drew to a close, he seemed to soften a bit, but kept his view that illegal immigration was wrong, but he did tell Armida that if she left and came back legally, he would have no problem in sponsering them. As he drove away from the Gonzalez family, he shared this in the van:

“It’s surprising to meet people, that you don’t want to be in this country because of the way they came in, and liking them so much. What a shock. Never forget that…never forget that.”

Now…he’s where the fun is. Every summer there is a gathering of critics called the TCA events where producers talk about their upcoming seasons. At the 30 Days event, producers Morgan Spurlock, R.J. Cutler and Ben Silverman were treated to a verbal attack by Frank Geroge over how they manipuleted what he said. Stealing from the TVWeek Blog entry about the event:

“You guys screwed me,” George said. “It was out of context. They were able to shape the story in the manner they wanted to. I thought [the portrayal] was grossly unfair to the American people.”

“Because I made them do it!”

Raise your hand if you think Frank got back to his everyday life and caught flack for turning in to a softy. *raises his hand* Yes, I am sure things were taken out of order, as happens on every reality show. But you (meaning Frank) said the words, so, guess what Frank…you said them, deal with it. I am not taking a side on either side of the debate, but I think his attacking of the producers as the show is about to air was cowardly. Live with what you said.

Who in the world is directing All My Children this week? A film school drop out? They changed film stock and it look horrible, and now you have overcomplicated shots being filmed that the camerman can’t handle! Boom shots? POV shots? The show looks like absolute dreck this week! I’m hoping we go back to standard fare soon.

On a side note, the new Colby, Ambyr Childers, not only is a horrible actress, they SORASed the character 8 years!

Back on February 4th of this year, I wrote, yet another, entry about the American Family Association attacking television shows. One thing I said was:

“What I also don’t understand is that twice now they have attacked NBC over being “anti-Christian”, but yet I have not heard a peep of anyone going after Rescue Me on the FX Network.”

I need to learn to shut my stupid mouth.

It was reported yesterday on the AdvertisingAge website, that the AFA has convinced T-Mobile to pull their ads from both Rescue Me and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, both airing on the FX Network. The article states that the orginization bombarded T-Mobile’s CEO, Robert Dotson, with emails saying how they found these two shows his company advertises on to be offensive. Mr. Dotson then said he reviewed episodes of the show and stated:

“I have personally taken the time to view some of the programs where we have run advertising, …Candidly, some of the choices we have made are clearly inconsistent with who we are and what we stand for.”

As for the show’s themselves, an FX spokesman said:

“The shows air at 10 p.m., they are marketed to adults and we do a good job of making viewers aware that it is adult content. More than 90% of the audience for ‘Rescue Me’ is 18 or older.”

Again, I have to state, YOU have the power to control what YOU watch. YOU have the remote control in your hand, turn the channel if it OFFENDS YOU! I happen to like Rescue Me, but I fully realize my grandmother might now, so you know what she does? She doesn’t watch it! You know what I do about shows I don’t like? I don’t watch them! However, Rev Wildmon, the founder of the AFA, feels that no one should watch them. At the rate he’s going, he might very well get his way.

I know no one will do anything, but don’t cry to me when they next target one of your favorite shows. We have to speak up just as loudly as they do if this is ever to stop. How can such a small group, they claim 3,000,000 supporters, so about 1% of the entire population, control what the rest of us watches? I don’t think so. Think about that for a second. A group that adds up to 1 out of every 100 people is dictating what you see on television.

Would someone care to explain to me when Hollywood and advertisers decided this country was minority rules? I would like to know. Ok, thanks.

I give up. It’s the same thing every week. I enjoy watching the show, but writing the recaps is boring me in to a coma. I really doubt anyone is couting on me for these anyway. Oh well, 30 Days starts this week!

Oh, and it got renewed for another season. Let’s hope they come up with some twists.

Amazon is running a special this week only on a Western Digital 250gb external hard drive. Why should you care? As I have mentioned before, I am running multiple external drives due to my MP3 addiction, and now tv show addiction. (Hey, I can’t help it if I have shows within 12 hours of them airing in England!)

So, long story short, one can never have too much storage space, and this is a darn good price for a drive!

I just got back from Kevin Smith’s latest film, Clerks II. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Smith, well, he’s not for everyone. His films are filled with pop-culture references, gutter humor that would make a sailor blush, and a geek sensibility that will just be beyond most people.

His first film was the original Clerks, released in October of 1994. He made it for $27,000, cast his friends, and shot it at night in the convenience store he worked in. I saw it for the first time in the summer of 1995 and it spoke to me in so many ways because I had already been working retail for years and years. We fondly referred to it at work as “the training film” for new employees. You would encounter the customers who made no sense, like “the mild maid”. A woman who would go through each gallon of milk, thinking the mystical jug with expiration date weeks away resided in the back of the case. The film was still considered a success because it went to gross $3,151,130 domestically.

Smith has went on to even bigger success with Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, and his mis-step was Jersey Girl. During all this time, he was asked about doing a Clerks II, but he kept saying he didn’t think it would happen. It was when he was working on the 10th Anniversary Edition of the movie for DVD, he realized he did have more things he wanted to say with his original characters. So he sat down and wrote a movie that seems to be a normal Kevin Smith letter on one level, and on another, the first truly mature film of an all new filmmaker.

Smith peppered the film with just enough of his old school tricks to keep his rabid fan base satisfied, but at the same time he told the tale of what will become of his fans in their mid-30’s if they don’t wizen up. The first film dealt with Dante (Brian O’Halloran) and Randal (Jeff Anderson) being 20-something slackers, stuck in dead-end jobs. You were left debating if Dante was getting nowhere in life due to circumstances, himself or listening to the messed up advice of Randal.

Clerks II picks up 10 years after the first with the Quick Stop store burning down, leaving Dante and Randal without jobs. They then go to work at the Mooby’s fast food chain (if you’ve seen the other movies, you get the joke), and after a year of slinging fries, Dante has met the girl he wants to marry, Emma (played by Kevin Smith’s real life wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith) and they’re moving to Florida the next day where Emma’s parents will give them a house and Dante will have a car wash to manage. All this is complicated by the fact a few weeks previous, Dante had a night of drunken sex with his manager, Becky (Rosario Dawson) which leads to other problems. I don’t want to spoil the entire movie for anyone who wants to see it, but it is well worth seeing, but don’t go expecting to see your typical Kevin Smith film.

This is a film about what happens to those 20-something slackers if they never snap out of it. How do you make your mark in this world if you wake up one morning and realize you are in your 30’s and done nothing of substance with your life? Do you do what is expected of you, get married, become a responsible adult, and do things that don’t make you happy? Or will you realize everyone leaves their mark in their own, special and unique way? Just because you haven’t lived up to the normal standards of society doesn’t mean you are a failure.

Dante is really the same person he was in Clerks, still lost, still being told what to do by his girlfriends, and still trying to grow a backbone of his own. Randal is the one who has changed. He still acts like the same idiot he was in the first one, but when you scratch the surface, you find a lost guy too afraid to break free of his comfort zone. In one of the most poignant scenes (yes, a poignant scene in a Smith film), after a confrontation with someone they went to high school with, Randal wants to borrow Dante’s car and leave for a little while. Dante chases after him and goes with him on this unknown errand. When we next see them, they are driving go-karts, set to music, smiling and laughing like the old Dante and Randal we know. This scene seemed so out of place at first, but as it went on, it started to get you in the gut, these guys are lost. They don’t know what to do and they retreat to a simpler time for comfort. The next scene where they are driving back to work, it’s almost as if Smith sensed his audience wouldn’t get what the scene was about, so he spelled it out for everyone, this is what “centers” Randal, what calms him down.

The movie is 94 minutes long, and honestly, I could rave about it for twice that long. This is a film made by a maturing filmmaker who has reevaluated his life and reset his priorities. He wants to say to his entire rabid fan base, “It’s not too late, it’s never too late! Grab life and do with it what you will, but don’t be afraid of it!” It is a movie written by a middle-aged man with a middle-aged man’s sensibilities, voice and experience. It should be required viewing by all Gen Xers who still carry that chip on their shoulder that the world doesn’t understand them. They’re right, the world doesn’t understand them, but you pick-up, carry-on and get out of the world what you put in to it. And you also don’t let the “milk maids” get you down. And a tip of the hat to Smith for bringing back the original milk maid to once again look for that magical gallon in the back of the cooler.

The other day I wrote about the hideous paint job on Optimus Prime in the Transformers movie. Well, today at San Diego Comic Con Paramount made a huge announcment that will warm every die-hard Transformers fan…

Peter Cullen is the voice of Optimus Prime!

Ok, for the 99.9% of you who went “um….”, he was the original voice of Optimus in the cartoon in the mid-80’s. You can hear him here

Shameless advert time! V For Vendetta comes out August 1st, I can not wait to get this! Best movie I have seen in the theater in ages! You can get a Full Screen (why do people still buy this format?), Widescreen or the Widescreen Two-Disc Special Edition. I’m going for the two-disc set, but because I’m wacky like that. And for the die-hard fans, you can always check out the graphic novel.

Course, I am going to be on a business trip the day it comes out so I will have to wait a week to watch it! GAH!

So, my 35th birthday was even more depressing than I anticipated. Not only was I not thrilled about getting another year older, it seemed people I would expect to make sure to say “Happy Birthday” to me couldn’t be bothered. No, I don’t mean anyone reading this blog, I mean some very specific people that I know don’t come here.

I am one of those people who go’s out of his way to wish people a happy birthday. One of the people I am annoyed with had her birthday on July 4th. She thanked me for sending her a card and how nice it was I remembered. To date, I have not heard one word from her. And yes, I know she’s been online as she pops up on my buddy list.

My new motto? You’re going to have to earn me saying “Happy Birthday” as it seemed to be beyond anyone elses doing.

So instead of admitting today is my 35th birthday, let us instead reflect on the fact it is also the anniversary of the fist landing of the moon.

Much more entertaining then thinking about how old I am.

I grew up on the Transformers. I spent hours transforming them, making them battle, playing out mini Autobots vs. Decepticons wars. I always thought there would be a movie some day, and if you didn’t know it, there’s going to be one released on July 4th, 2007. Sadly, the more I learn, the more I get afraid of the movie sucking. Several things have made me nervous, but the final straw came on July 11th.

Anyone who ever played with the toys, watched the tv show, saw the movie, read the comics, they all know the most iconic figure is Optimus Prime. Everyone knows the snub nosed semi.

Everyone knows that truck, we all love it and we all associate it with everything that is the Transformers. So imagine my dismay when this picture showed up on the web, reportedly from the location shoot the movie was working on.

If this is Optimus Prime, you will hear my blood curdling screams across the planet. Ok, fine, I can live with the long nosed cab if it makes the robot form taller. I can live with that. But the flame paint job…it is enough to make me run screaming in to the woods. Fine, you changed from the snub nosed to the long nose, but why the change in paint job? Optimus is a leader, he is not about flash, he is about leading his troops in a practicle way, he would never waste time on such a silly paint job.

Let us all hope this image is fake.

Rachael Ray prepares to cast her dark magic spell over a broader audience

Satan’s evil servant Rachael Ray met with TV critics about her upcoming syndicated talk show. She plans on having a more open set and having people play foosball and cook with her. To quote her directly:

“I want to laugh and eat something in every show,”

Of course you do, how else would you maintain those chipmunk cheeks of yours, Princess of the Dark Arts? (For those of you who don’t remember, I really, really don’t like this woman) The idea of her having even more airtime on TV…I already want to run for a fall out shelter, her 900 hours of Food Network time a week are already enough to make my ears bleed.

So, say good-bye to your loved ones, the evil comes in September.

Ok, Hell’s Kitchen got slightly more amusing with the fifth epuside. After a short showing of the girls staring to in-fight, we then got to a fun demostration by Ramsay. He invited the two teams to sit down with him to some gourmet snacks, what they don’t know is all the items are fake. Fondue was really canned cheese, the pate is crushed hot dogs, the caviar was from a catfish and the kabobs were made from tv dinners. Not one chef guessed, although Heather looked like she might have had a clue, but didn’t want to make a fool of herself. This was all a test to see if their palates could be fooled, and they all were, proving we eat as much with our eyes as with our taste buds.

This set-up the true challange of a blindfolded taste test. Red vs. Blue and red ended up winning by 1 correct answer. The former all womens tam got to go with Ramsay to a TV Guide photo shoot, while the blue team stayed back and cleaned both kitchens from the previous nights service. That was the end of the road though for the women’s good luck in this episode as Rachel turned in a devestating performance, and even tried to fake how much she had cooked some meat to Ramsay. Never a wise idea.

So, couple amusing things, but overall it still seems too much like season 1 to me. Rachel went home, I think it’s obvious this is coming down to Heather.

Amazing how plans change. Japan is off for now. Maybe in the fall. I honestly can’t say as I’m heartbroken this time. Too much going on in August as it is. And with the new company website getting ready for launch, I’ll be swamped anyway.

Back in August 1989 I had my tonsils removed for health reasons. While I am far healthier, I really would like to know when the “phantom pains” wll stop. They told me a year, but everytime the weather acts up, there they go again,. Sooo annoying.

Trey Parker and Matt Stone were doing a press junket at the Television Critics Assn, to promote an upcoming “Best Of” DVD of South Park, some old stories got new twists.

- It was heavily hinted that “Trapped In The Closet” was pulled from it’s reruns due to pressure from Tom Cruise. It returns to the rotation on July 19th. This may be in part to it was the only episode Trey & Matt submitted to the Emmys, and it was nominated. Gee, win awards, get your episode back on the air. If it had not aired, there was going to be problems over it now.

- Issac Hayes did quit over Scientology being picked on, and they kind of expected it.

- They are afraid of getting “Tom Cruise stink” on them.

- After “Cartoon Wars” aired, where they picked on Family Guy with a vengance, The Simpsons sent them flowers, and King Of The Hill staff sent them thank you notes.

You can find more info about the press confernce at TVWeek Blog, Seattle P.I., LA Times, and the Washington Post.