Our good friend Garfield makes the same comments that we all think about while we’re dieting:
Garfield is good.
Garfield Comments on Diets
DVD Review: Idiocracy
Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butthead as well as King of the Hill, brings the world of 2505 to life with 2006’s Idiocracy. Going into this movie I had only heard about the plot and wondered if it could be any good as a comedy. After watching the movie, I have to say that Judge does a great job and that it’s a shame that this comedy hasn’t gotten wider coverage because not only is it funny, but there is some demented message that we all should be very wary of, too!
The gist of the movie is that sometime in the early 21st Century (now), the dumb people of the world just started procreating like crazy while the smart folks waited because the market was bad, their particular situation was bad, or they just couldn’t “perform” in bed. This led to the acceleration of Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” doctrine, but in favor of the morons and not the smart people.
What does this create? A world full of people who don’t know what to do with their garbage, can’t comprehend anything other than grunts and minimal phrases, and use the equivalent of Gatorade to water their crops (which all – surprisingly – are dead). Throw in a former UFC fighter as President of America and the #1 TV channel being named the “Violence Channel” and you’ve got Mike Judge’s 2505.
I won’t go into the details about how Vince Vaughn is transported from 2005 to 2505 or how he and Maya Rudolph get along in the future, but I will say that this movie is hilarious to anyone who knows a real dumb person. You know the person I’m referencing. The one who goes, “Hey guys, I have a story.” And then proceeds to tell a story that is so God-awfully boring you want to kick him in the shin.
And I hate to say this because I really do admire the jobs that police officers do, but the cops in 2505 are so close to some of the police officers that I know here in 2005 that it’s scary. Thank God my hometown of Roxbury doesn’t have any police like this, which is more than I can say for some of the fools that I had to deal with while I was a college student…
But I digress. With a running time of 84 minutes, Idiocracy is a great movie to watch on a weekend afternoon if you’re looking for a laugh. I recommend it.
Lost vs. 24 vs. American Idol vs. Scrubs
This is the first season that I attempted to watch all of these three shows. I admit that I only watched the auditions of American Idol and that I’ve sparingly watched anything thereafter, but I wanted to make a few comments on the state of network television these days.
Lost is almost completely unwatchable at this point. I don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but I heard that the original people behind it left the show or something – I don’t know. However, it’s absolutely amazing the downward spiral that this show has been on. In case you haven’t seen it yet, the latest episode showed the survivors unknowingly burying two other survivors alive. What was most disturbing about this episode wasn’t the fact that people were seemingly killed for no reason, but that the storyline did not progress one bit. What a joke.
This used to be major “must see TV” for pretty much everyone. Now? It’s something you TiVo and watch when you get a chance – or you just watch it at ABC.com.
Twenty-Four, on the other hand, is great. This is the first season that I’ve actually watched it and despite some glitches in the storyline (isn’t it a little convenient that President Palmer woke up from his induced coma and is completely fine to resume the Presidency?), the show is very watchable. At some point, I’ll be sure to watch the first few seasons of 24, but for now – I’ll take this version of CTU dominating everyone any night of the week. It’s good stuff.
American Idol is great because of what the internet media is doing with Sanjaya Malakar. The fact that Vote for the Worst and Howard Stern are making a media superstar out of Sanjaya is absolutely awesome! I like the fact that this kid – who has about as much talent as you could expect from any high school drama student – is still involved in the show. It’s like William Hung actually made it to the fan-voting part of the show and is now getting major support.
Whether this guy is getting sympathy support or just a bunch of people who want to “ruin” American Idol by having the kid who is clearly the worst singer win, we can never truly know. But we do know that once Vote for the Worst and Howard Stern got behind Sanjaya, he moved right up the ranks. Makes for good television.
This is also my first season of watching Scrubs, which I really only watch because I have my DVR set to record it when it comes on Thursday nights. That’s not to say that I don’t think the show is hilarious – it’s great. Zach Braff is a genius and the rest of the cast is just perfect for their roles. Whoever did the casting for that show should be given a bunch of awards.
What I like about Scrubs is that I picked up and began watching the show in whatever season they are in now and this led me to watching the reruns of Scrubs on Comedy Central and FOX and its like I’ve been watching the show since it began. It’s one of those shows where you can jump in at any time and be right there, involved in the overall storyline of the show. Good stuff…really good, comedic television.
In any event, that’s where I think those shows are at right now. Lost needs some serious help before its even worth considering as a major “must see” show again, but the other three shows are all good to watch for different reasons. I recommend the last three shows if you’re not busy on a Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday night.
Audiobook Review: The Bad Twin
This was my first experience with an audiobook and right now I’m so-so on whether or not this was a good “reading” experience. Yes, I like the fact that someone is reading to me and its more of a story format, but it’s very easy to have your mind wander when your eyes aren’t focused on letters on a page.
Anyway, I won’t let that experience detract from my review of the story nor will I let the fact that this book is linked to the now-failed ABC series “Lost” jade my view. In fact, while “Lost” is literally a lost cause at this point (come on – they’re burying people alive now and we’re supposed to care one way or the other?), this book – written by the fictional Gary Troup (get it? It’s the word “purgatory” all scrambled up) – wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. For those of you that care, Gary Troup is supposed to be the guy who is sucked into the turbine on the beach in the first episode of “Lost.” And for the rest of you who care, the book was actually written by Laurence Shames.
It’s the story of a private detective named Artisan who takes on a job from the Widmore family who is searching for their lost son and brother, Zander. This ridiculous name is short for Alexander (shouldn’t it be Xander, then?) who is supposed to be the “bad twin” between him and his brother, Clif Widmore. You can almost predict the entire story once you get the basics down – Clif turns out to be a bastard, Zander turns out to be a good guy, the nice guy Artisan winds up with the girl, etc, etc.
When I finished listening to this book, I wanted to give it some time to digest. Well, it’s been digested and there is really nothing crazy about the story or the characters. I will give Shames the fact that he does some good character development throughout the novel, but the story itself is just blah. Almost like a “who cares” type of story.
Lost is incorporated into the story via the Hanso Foundation. There is a member of the board of the Widmore group who is from the Hanso Foundation. Deep connection… really…
I suppose if you have the opportunity to get your iPods on a free copy of this audiobook like I did, then go for it. Otherwise, don’t bother.
My Truck Craps Out…Again!
This past December, I had my truck in the shop for a few days and it cost me about a grand in various repairs. Well, here we go again…
For those of you in New Jersey, you know we had a bitch of a snow and ice storm last Friday. I was driving around in the truck and had to turn around after going down a dead-end street and while I was turning around I heard a loud “CLUNK” and then the truck wouldn’t go in reverse any more. So, after pushing the truck back into the middle of the road (I was in the middle of a K-turn when the truck clunked out), I had to drive it only going forward back to my apartment.
The next morning I brought it to the dealership and I heard back from the dealership yesterday. The problem? The transmission is completely shot and the recommendation is to install a brand new, straight-from-the-factory transmission. The cost? Yeah…three thousand dollars!
Now, I’m so far into student loan debt that the shock of owing this amount of money doesn’t phase me. It just sucks – and it doesn’t make me angry or irate any more, it just makes me really sad and down. Here are three thousand dollars that I can’t spend on my new apartment when I move this May, money that I can’t spend on buying a new car (which is now completely out of the picture for another 12 – 18 months), money that I had originally planned to pay down that suffocating student loan debt which is now also out of the picture, etc.
It’s just really a not-great thing to have happen and I’m really just exasperated with the entire situation. I’ve had a headache since I got home on Friday night and it doesn’t seem to be able to go away. I haven’t been able to really sleep well for the last few days – I might have logged in about 10 hours of sleep since Saturday night. I feel completely helpless without having any form of transportation – it just sucks.
Speaking of no transportation, the dealership promised me a loaner car yesterday since that was when one of the cars would be back. As you could imagine, no loaner became available and I’m still without transportation. I’m relying on one of my roommates to drive me around town to do simple tasks like go to the post office and the bank. I’m relying on a co-worker to drive me to work in Trenton.
It’s just pathetic and it sucks and I’m not really happy about any of it.
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