Archive for the 'Entertainment' Category

I’m a big fan of The Office, the comedy television show on NBC (hopefully everyone else is too). Last night’s episode was great, and it provided a glimpse of what might be coming down the pipeline (there are only 2 episodes left this season). Here are a few predictions I have for where this series is headed; note the possible spoilers ahead:

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My mom and I are watching Larry King last night, and he’s talking with Robert Kiyosaki, a businessman and motivational speaker. The subject of conversation is the tanking US economy. Mr. Kiyosaki is wearing a hideously ugly suit and tie. On the phone with Larry and Robert is Donald Trump. The following scene ensues:

KING: Real estate is a good deal, even if you don’t have the money. Donald, what’s your feelings about the Bush administration and their handling of the crisis?

TRUMP: I think the first thing I’d do if I were the president is I’d ask Robert to go out and buy a new suit and tie. That would help the economy and it would help Robert.

Zing! Who knew The Donald had such a great sense of humor?

I’m not sure if any of you have seen Pushing Daisies (Wednesdays at 8:00 PM EST on ABC), but I am thoroughly enjoying the show. It’s a comedy-drama (described in some places as an ‘forensic fairy-tale’) and is, in my opinion, the most creative thing to come to television in a long time. The story revolves around Ned, a pie-maker, who has the uncanny ability to bring dead things back to life. There are, however, several rules he must adhere to:

1. If Ned touches something that he has previously brought back to life, it dies permanently.
2. If the thing that Ned brings back to life is alive for more than one minute, something else nearby dies to take its place.

Emerson Cod, a detective friend who discovers Ned’s secret ability, gets Ned to partner up with him to solve unsolved murders. The general plot is that Ned brings back the murder victim, asks them how they died, and they collect the reward money (if any). But there are further complications to the story.

In his childhood, Ned was good friends with a girl who lived across the street, one Charlotte “Chuck” Charles. Ned’s mother dies unexpectedly, so he brings her back to life, at the time not knowing about his power’s two constraints. As a result, Charlotte’s father dies unexpectedly (from rule 2 above). After touching his mother a second time, she too dies (from rule 1 above). Ned is sent to a boarding school, and never sees Chuck again. Later in life, however, he sees that Chuck has been mysteriously murdered. He brings her back to life and, unable to bring himself to killing her again, keeps her alive (a nearby undertaker dies to take her place). Chuck and Ned are instantly smitten with one another, but their relationship becomes somewhat difficult as a result of Ned being unable to touch Chuck.

The show ultimately revolves around the unsolved murders (a new one each week), and around Ned and Chuck’s relationship and the complications therein: namely that they cannot touch one another (though they find a few workarounds), and that Olive Snook, a waitress at the Pie shop where Ned works, falls in love with Ned. It has been a long, long time since something this unique and engaging has been on television, so I heartily recommend it. The direction of this show is very similar to the works of Tim Burton, so if you like his movies, you’ll like this show.

Update: You can catch full episodes of the show at ABC.com if you want to get caught up on the storyline. You have to install a custom player (yuck), but Dustin tried it out and it says it works OK.

Earlier today I mentioned the xkcd web comic. If you aren’t familiar with the comic, I highly recommend it. It’s well worth subscribing to or bookmarking. I’ve gone through all of the comics, and have compiled a list of my favorites. Make sure you read the hidden jokes in each strip, by hovering over them with your mouse for the title attribute. Enjoy:

• Scientists
• Love
• Valentine - Heart
• Abusive Astronomy
• Family Circus
• Clark Gable
• Pointers
• Sandwich
• Donald Knuth
• Regular Expressions
• Ghostbusters Marathon
• The Problem with Wikipedia
• Open Source
• A New CAPTCHA Approach
• Keyboards Are Disgusting
• Linux User at Best Buy
• Compiling
• Shopping Teams
• With Apologies to Robert Frost
• Braille
• Loud Sex

It’s Labor Day weekend once again, which means that it’s time for the Old Fashioned Farmer’s Day in Silk Hope, NC. Last year I took a number of pictures of the event, and I plan to do the same again this year. If you’re located in central North Carolina, and you’re looking for a good time this weekend, I recommend checking it out. It’s just good ol’ country fun!

I recently stumbled upon an excellent article explaining why the “black bars” still show up for some movies, even on high-definition televisions. Not being the owner of a high-def TV, I had always wondered what really happened in these cases. Now I finally understand what’s going on, and that one shouldn’t panic when the bars continue to show up.

Best 5 second video ever (thanks Dustin)!