Holy Shit...a new Band of Brothers

So I wrote about how Showtime might be overtaking HBO....but I may have spoken too soon....

HBO is currently in production for a follow-up to the original Band of Brothers.  It will focus on the Pacific theatre of World War 2, and is based on 2 books written by Marines that found in the Pacific.

Here's the kicker....according to wikipedia, The Pacific will be 10 parts (like BoB) and has a reported $200 million budget.  ridiculous.....ridiculously amazing

Is Showtime > HBO?

Oz, Six Feet Under, Sopranos, Deadwood, Band of Brothers, Sex and the City.........all giants in HBO's history that I tried to watch....

now, all they have is Generation Kill (a lame attempt to channel Band of Brothers into Iraq) and Entourage (still fantastic, but sick of the half-seasons).

I recently switched from a Marriott to a Westin hotel.  The Westin, shockingly enough, doesn't offer HBO.  They offer Showtime.

After fuming about the lack of HBO, I finally started watching Showtime, and I'm blown away by the quality of their original programs.

Dexter is creepy...creepy enough to get prime time syndication (edited) on CBS.
Weeds is fun....fun enough to rack up Emmys....and fun enough to employ Kevin Nealon. 
Bullshit is um interesting.....too libretarian for me, but I still enjoy it.

I know that I'm working with a ridiculously small sample here (3 hit shows vs. the HBO list above), but with HBO's major hits on the decline (both Entourage and Curb slated to end in the next few seasons), is this a changing of the guard in the Premier category?

Does Showtime have the ability to carry the torch?

Using a List to Be Better

for some reason, i've taken a liking to Earl Hickey, and his "My Name is Earl" show.  If you aren't familiar with the show's plot, here goes:

- Earl is a thief that lives his life by scamming people
- He wins the lottery (scratcher) and gets hit by a car literally seconds later...losses the winning lottery ticket
- while laying in a hospital, comes across Carson Daley, and hears Carson talking about karma
- Earl decides that he wants to right his wrongs, and creates a list of all the things that he's done bad in his lift.
- Each episode focuses on the wacky adventures to cross an item off his list.

So, take away the fun backstory, and this show is literally about a guy crossing off items his to-do list.  I use my to-do list to manage my random tasks throughout the day.  The typical day has about 10 random things, from updating my blog,scheduling doctor's appointments, and now, staying on track with graduate school applications.  I get tons of shit from my friends about this ("My Dad doesn't even do that!", "lame.....what a geek"), but it helps me get shit done!

Now you have 2 examples (yes, 1 is a ton more entertaining and interesting than the other) of using a list to get shit done.  If Earl can use his list to become a better person (and earn some good-karma points), and I can use mine to stay employed, stay healthy, and get into a top-tier grad school (hopefully), imagine what you can do with yours........


once you decide to make the plunge, here's are good links to check out.  Some are overboard, but they get give you the idea....


building a smarter to-do list [43 folders]

Executing your to-do list [zen habits]

Mad Men is blowing up

Season 2's premiere hit 2 million viewers last Sunday, which is more than double the viewers it averaged per episode in Season 1. link

I missed the premiere, so I'll have to catch it during their weekly reruns.

A quick recap of Mad Men's accomplishments, awards, and accolades:

Golden Globes -
Best Television Series
Best Performance by an actor in a television series - Jon Hamm (Donald Draper)

2007 Young Hollywood Award to Vincent Kartheiser (Pete Campbell)

2007 Peabody Award

Nominated for 16 Emmy Awards

(awards shamelessly ripped from wiki)

The wire...anybody watch it yet?

With the heralded "Generation Kill" set to start this weekend on HBO, I decided to take up creater Edward Burns' first show...the Wire.

I'm on episode 3 of the first season, and while I enjoy the nuaced, prodding style of storytelling, I'm wondering if the action picks up.  So far, I'm also loving all the random players that I recognize from other movies/tv shows...

so far, here's who I've identified:

Detective Bunk = The anti-hacker dude in the very cheesy (but glorious) "Hackers"
Lt Daniels = the creepy dude that recruits people in "Lost"
Detective Herk = Vince's friend from the old neighborhood who steals the Shrek doll (Entourage)
The Commish =  Dennis Leary's partner in the Thomas Crown Affair

I'm sure there are more random people popping up, but so far, I'm really digging this show...

Mumu = Fat? Apparently yes, according to Nutrisystem

If you've any amount of time watching ESPN, the History Channel, or the National Geographic Channel (ok, that's what I watch....go ahead, hate me), you have absolutely run across the ridiculous Nutrisystem commercials. If not, here's a rundown. Take some recognizable athlete that is past his prime, show a before and after picture of him, and then offer your product. It worked for Don Shula (never an athlete, but a coach....I wonder if it'd work with John Madden), Dan Marino, Mike Golic, and some other random football players. But in an attempt to appeal to women, Nutrisystem decided to show a before and after picture of Jilian Barbierie....check it out:

So apparently wearing a mumu for a picture, then changing into a more normal, tight-fitting outfit = weight loss? Sold! screenshot taken from youtube...

Must See TV - Mad Men

The Sunday NYTimes Magazine had a glowing (and ridiculously long 10 page) preview of the upcoming season of Mad Men, on AMC.



I'm about midway through the first season, and I'm blown away by it. Created by Sopranos' writer Matthew Weiener, the show follows the fictitious Sterling Cooper advertising agency, in the middle of its heyday, back in 1959.

granted, I wasn't around in 1959, but from what i've read, the show is incredibly authentic in its set design, mannerisms, and most importantly, the advertising of the day. People back then cared about futuristic things like shaving cream from a can...or if the Russians were coming.

This show is absolutely fantastic, and I highly recommend it. It picked up a Golden Globe (Best Actor) and was nominated for Best Dramatic Show.....so the experts are in line too.....

Season 1 dvd comes out july1....

Negotiation Genius Strikes CNBC!

Hey guys...just a head's up

My brother-in-law will be on tonight's "Big Idea with Donny Deutsch" on CNBC. Its on at 10 Eastern/9 Central.....

He's going to be discussing competition, and will probably be plugging his book....check it out!

Thoughts on Lost....

I just finished Season 4 of Lost, and while I will continue to watch this glorious show, I now firmly believe that the writer's are starting to wing it.

While the 4th season was the shortest season, it was also one of my favorites. As I finished watching the finale, the thought struck me.

Why introduce an oddball / unknown character ("Jeremy Bentham") in the last epsidoe, only to reveal his identity. In previous seasons, the writers would have performed a slow burn.....peppering the entire season (or multiple seasons) with references to Jeremy Bentham....and in the process, driving the audience insane (see..."the numbers").

Anywho, still a huge Lost fan, will continue to watch and debate the show religiously....but....has the show jumped the shark?

Something cool to do with the tv show "Lost"...

I know how much of a huge fan Sharad is about the t.v. show - Lost. I admit that I have avoided watching the show because I don't want to get sucked into another series. I've heard lots of good things about the show though and may one day decide to watch it.

With this in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when a family friend emailed me a link to a USA Today article. Apparently, my brother who teaches physics at Illinois Wesleyan University was quoted twice in article.

I'll share the quotes (bolded) and give a link to the article.

From the article...

"Andrew Morrison, a Lost viewer who teaches physics at Illinois Wesleyan University, says the producers have so far avoided the physically impossible.

They "have seemingly not (yet) violated any laws of physics, although the technology for how the effects would be accomplished are way beyond present-day engineering capabilities." "

"The Casimir Effect is believed to demonstrate "negative energy," which would be considered necessary to stabilize a wormhole for safe travel", Morrison says."

Article Link...

If you are a fan of the show, this article is a good read.

Pretty cool to be quoted twice in a national newspaper.

What's wrong with Stuart Scott's eyebrows?

Too much botox on his forehead?

I was watching the Pistons / Celtics game, and during halftime, he was really creeping me out in HD.

His eyebrows were an odd mixture of white, brown, and black hair, and he looked very botoxed up.....

i clearly have too much time on my hands....


[edit] just did some googling, and learned that he has been undergoing chemotherapy....my bad, my bad [/edit]

Overcoming Writer's Block

So I'm traveling back home, and I'm watching Six Feet Under (season 2, episode 5).

In this episode, Brenda decides to write a book. She doesn't know what the book is about, only that the book will be fiction.

Halfway through the episode, she flips open her little Apple laptop computer, and struggles to type even a word. In her head, lingering doubts appear....manifested in words on the screen. At first, the thoughts are semi positive "Go ahead, write." But then the nastiness appears, "What exactly do you have to say, that hasn't been said before?"
.
In the show, Brenda uses that as her cue that writing isn't for her. She dramatically closes her laptop, she's done writing, and we aren't going to mistake her actions in any way.

While she can do that, I realize that I'm actually in the same place as Brenda. As I've mentioned before, I applied to business school last year, but didn't get in. Since I'm most concerned about my GPA, I've decided to take a summer class at the University of Chicago to strength my application.

Unfortunately, in order to take a class, I'm required to write an essay. So, I'm like Brenda, struggling to type even a word. Its not the verbiage, or the physical act of typing words (I can type about 60 words a minute), but rather...I am struggling with "What exactly do you have to say, that hasn't been said before?"

So as I float along at 30,000 ft, watching Six Feet Under on my laptop, I'm asking myself...How do I dress up the typically application essay to make it compelling, interesting, and insightful?

Anybody have any tips for me?

And now rise....Rodimus Prime

Random internet links bring back random memories, and this one should be filed under the "way back" file....

I still remember hanging out with my cousin Sonu on Saturday mornings, anxiously waiting for Transformers reruns to start at 9:06 am on channel 9 in Minneapolis. For some reason, we weren't smart enough to realize that the show never started exactly at 9, and that the infomercial for Champion Auto Stores always ran over by 6 minutes, but still..we were kids, and we hated Champion Auto Stores every week because of it. To this day, neither one of us has ever set foot into a Champion Auto Store.....

So, back to my story, this is back in the mid 80s, and instead of normal reruns, we were treated to 30 min segments from the Transformers movie....so yes, we watched the Champion Auto Stores infomercial, just in case the show magically started early.

Now that I reflect back on the original Transformers movie, I think back to the wide range of emotions that this movie put me through. I remember crying when Optimus Prime died. Being happy when Daniel figured out how to use his jump suit to save his dad at the last second. And excited when Weird Al's "Dare to be Stupid" used a bad word.

But most of all.....the ending, when the punk (appropriately named) "Hot Rod" finds the autobot matrix, and finally reaches his true potential.....

well, that was a rambling story with really no point...but really only exists as a prelude to one of the greatest youtube vids of all time...enjoy, i know that I will

Madden Nation

Really? A tv show about a video game?

As a society, have we run out of ideas for tv shows?

Granted, its on ESPN, who's idea of original programming is Poker, but isn't there some sport that they can be covering instead of kids play John Madden's Football on xbox 360?

a quick scan of sports that are still in the middle of their season:

- Major League Baseball
- College Baseball
- College Softball
- College lacrosse
- NBA playoffs
- NHL playoffs
- Nascar
- Golf (men's and women's)
- Tennis (men's and women's)
- Mixed Martial Arts
- Major League Soccer
- Futbol from around the world
- cricket
- curling

actually, I have no idea if curling has seasons or not, but I know that it'd be a hell of a lot more entertaining than "Madden Nation"

Breaking up is tough......

After spending less and less time together over the last year, I finally made it official yesteray....I canceled my Tivo account.

I've had Tivo for over 4 years, and for the most part, I loved it. Like the ads claim, my Tivo just "got me". I'd get back from a vacation, or from a business trip, and find a massive list of shows for me to watch. Like any other friend, Tivo did a great job of finding new shows to captivate me. Shows like:

- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- Nip/Tuck
- Digging for the Truth
- Modern Marvels
- The Colbert Report
- Mad Men

I'm sure that Tivo introduced me to more shows, but those are the ones that really stick out.

While everything was going well with Tivo and I, I got ridiculously busy with work and business school applications. Since I didn't have as much time to watch TV, I think Tivo got mad at me. So this past weekend, I clicked on the Tivo logo for the first time in a month, and was shocked to find this list:

- Sunday Mass
- The Bill O'Reilley Report
- Sixty Minutes (a great show, but not something that I watch regularly)

To add insult to injury, I checked my credit card statement, and saw that I was paying $16.95/month for Tivo. That was the last straw....Tivo had to go.

I called their customer service, and guiltily made up an excuse why I was canceling. "I'm moving, and my new place already has a DVR. Yes, I know that it isn't Tivo, but we will only have 1 tv. No, I can't add another DVR to that TV, since they use a dish that doesn't work with Tivo (blatent lie)."

Hanging up, it felt good to get rid of a monthly expense, and a gadget off entertainment center. but now that its been a day, the thought of going home and not having Tivo is giving me cold sweats.

Any tips for overcoming my relationship with Tivo? Anybody else have a similar story?

Paging Little John....

The writers of Lost love to throw Little John's favorite word into their show...check it out



edit - video discovered via slashfilm.com

I see that we weren't the only ones to notice....

notice that Derrick Rose had no interest in being interviewed during the UNC/KU halftime game. Everybody at our table (at Grand Central - Sheffield, Lincoln, and Wrightwood) noticed it, but now its hitting the web.

He looked like he was 15 beers deep (incidentally, that's about where I was right then as well), and just wanted to go to bed....

Deadspin did a good job of covering the incident

I'd love to put a clip of the interview up, anybody have one?

What is wrong with the History Channel?

Over the years, whenever I was sick of American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, or Saved by the Bell, I could always turn to channel 65 and know that I'd find something interesting.

But now, in a weird move to catch up to Fox, the History Channel has started producing shows that are neither Historical not Entertaining.....here's a list of them:

- Axemen - really? somehow a show about contemporary lumberjacks is historical? I mean, I understand that they serve a valuable role in our society, but I still don't see why its on the History Channel. Move it over to Discovery, and I might give it a shot. what really irks me is the tagline "An American Original Series"....so does that mean that all Americans took part in the creation of this?

- Ice Road Truckers - see above...same shit, different location. did the History Channel hire somebody from Fox to come up with this crap?

- Gangland - This one is a bit hazy...I'm still not sure how I feel about this show yet. While I actually like the show, I still don't see why its on the History Channel. This is another show that's ripe for the Discovery Network.

- UFO / Monster Hunters - wtf? that's I can say.

As I'm stuck in my hotel in Tampa, I'm stuck watching either reality tv (regular broadcast channels), sports (nothing good until football season), Bill Mayer reruns on HBO, the election cycle (gag), or...the History Channel. I'm hoping that they get back to their roots!

Lost: A theory on time travel

I'm a huge Lost fan, and while I think the writers are making stuff up as they go, the show still pulls me in and confuses the hell out of me every week.

Here's a link (via duggmirror) to an interesting theory

theory link

my thoughts - an interesting read, but loses steam towards the end....