I've been trying to get this one up for days, but since I always wait to late to get around to my seven day meme thing, I run the risk of the dreaded back-to-back post, so this never makes the cut. But, I said I wanted to get this up before TV actually really started, and that day is today (finally!), so here goes...

( What I am planning on watching on TV this season. )

I am trying to watch the Emmys (and the game) as I do this, so there will be random brusts of  "Suck it, Emmys!" and "Yess! Emmys!". Probably more of the first than the second. First off, the Emmys suck. But thank goodness they lump everything together, so when they get to the big reality/miniseries/movie/variety segment I can flip back over to the Cowboys/Giants to pass the time before I tune in, hopefully, in time to see Michael Emerson get what he deserves.) Are you kidding me... Aikman, Emmit and Irving are on the sideline. I don't even know you Tony Romo and other assorted Cowboys, but you guys are no Aikman, Smith and Irving. Oh, The Daily Show just won something... is it sad that since the election I have watched probably five episodes of The Daily Show and The Colbert Report... combined. That is just sad.

A favorite site? This is probably the hardest one yet. I'm not a social networker. I don't myspace, facebook or twitter. I don't check any big news sites. I don't read any of the big blogs. Yet, I spend a lot of time online. Clearly I need to better manage my time. I check about 10 sites regularly... most of them you already know... LJ, TWoP (well, not so much over the past few months, but that's about to change.), a local blog aggregator, my friend's message board, a couple of random boards I lurk on... that's really about it. I can see this is gonna suck... just like the Cowboys are managing to do.

( Here are some random sites I have bookmarked for various reasons. )

Outstanding Comedy. 30 Rock? That is just a guess. ::is over 30 Rock:: Shocking! 30 Rock!

The Drama category is up next and there are two shows I love (Lost and Big Love), one I should, but don't quite yet (Mad Men), one I watch (House), one I used to watch (Dexter), Breaking Bad and Damages. I really, really want Lost to win, I know Big Love has no shot and am pretty sure Mad Men is going to take it. But the Cowboys are winning, so at least I've got that. Shock of shocks, Mad Men wins! I am slightly angry, but can't get to ranting about it because it's 11:03... and time for Mad Men.

So, today I was so bored (where's my House?!?! Seriously, it seems to be on the same two-weeks on, two-weeks off schedule as the second season of Lost. This sucks, as I did not know until I had already used up my I-don't-have-HBO-so-I-watch-Big Love and the Conchords-online-on-Mondays earlier in the day, leaving a gaping hole in my prime time schedule.) I decided to watch Heroes. I have not seen a minute of this volume since some scene with HRG and Mohinder in a parking garage back in episode one, so I have no clue what is going on. None. Wait, no. I tried to watch last week or two weeks ago, but it seemed I stumbled upon a black-and-white HRG flashback. And we all know how much I love those. That one got about five minutes.
( Random stuff I typed while the show aired. )

And, on an unrelated note, How dare Lost make me choose between my two favorite characters! It's not fair. I mean, of all the people to have kill Locke. And of all the people to have Ben kill. Any other combination and I would have been just fine. But that? That?! Man...

True, the bulk of this post is quizzes. But, the actual reason I am posting is to talk about two non-quiz related things, neither of which were worthy enough of posting on their own. The first if how my VP candidate is coming back to Greensboro again on Monday! This is exciting because, it is just Joe (meaning, sadly, less public interest, and thus not-as-ridiculous crowds, and more Joe talking. Double win!) Luckily, I am already off of work on Monday, because otherwise I'd have to go with a call-in, and I am thinking of saving my next "::cough, cough:: I feel a li'l sick" for Thanksgiving. (Because, for some reason, the slow-class company I work for thinks people want to be shopping on an actual holiday.) Secondly, I am now (as in "as soon as I hit the [Post] button), going to start watching "Mad Men". I need a token "smart people watch this" show, and this looks like it may be the one. I tried to start watching yesterday, but got sidetracked. But now I have two days off in a row, so here is no excuse. Of course the season finale is tomorrow, so I picked a terrible time to start, but better late than never, right? Right.
( And now... quizzes! )

I think I hear someone at the door, so I do not have time for witty intro text. I thought I had more time. I wrote all of this expecting a 9:40 arrival, and go a 9:16 one! Eh, whatever. Even when I came home and edited more stuff in, I did not add much up here. Just the part about how I did not add anything. Anyway, here goes... just a cut and all kinds of random stuff.
( this is the cut. )
(Hours Later) Sidenote on Why I Am Kind Of Angry At The Used Book/CD/DVD Store: When I begrudgingly spend my hard-earned dollars on a crappy movie based on a crappy TV show I Will never watch, I would like not to be charged twice for it! Now I have to go in today and try to convince them that I am not lying when I say "I only bought one copy of this movie that you have listed on my receipt as simply DVD $14. Just great!

So, yesterday my mom bought the "returning shows" TV Guide, completing the Fall 2008 preview, and I must say that, all-in-all, I am more excited about the old stuff than the new stuff. I don't know, it just seems that none of the new shows this season look that interesting. Maybe it's that I don't really care for cop/investigation type shows, but nothing really stands out. That makes me sad. Especially since my new schedule has me getting off pretty early most days, so I will actually be home to see things when they air. What a waste! I may check in on one of those new shows... I just have not decided which one yet. And how come I'm still not watching Mad Men?
( Two hours til House! Two days til Sunny! )

Oh snap! Do you know what I just realized? I am ::looks at date:: almost three weeks behind on something very important! Do you know what that is? (Hint: You don't care.) The 2008-09 schedule is out! Where's my calendar? This is important stuff. I think the whole "failing at the tournament" thing is having an effect on the scheduling.. I mean, come on.. Va Union, Lenoir-Rhyne, Presbyterian, Georgia Southern? Rhode Island!? Are there even enough people in Rhode Island to form a five-man lineup? This is kind of shameful. November 18th looks pretty interesting though. Not for us, but for others... you know who you are.

I think I'm kind of watching House. I am not sure, but I flipped back and forth between it and Everybody Loves Raymond earlier. I don't know what was going on, but it involved a nun who I think was played by Juliet from Lost. I think. And now it seems I am flipping between it and Will and Grace. I have yet to decide which one to watch. Of course my intense squeamishness dictates that this will not last long, but for today, I'm watching House. Thing I learned in a combined 20 minutes of House-watching: Chase is British Australian. I had no idea. I always thought of him as the airhead of the show, but now that he has an Australian British accent, I automatically think of him as smarter than I did before. Quit destroying my presumptuous illusions, actually-watching-House! Oh, and Wilson is dating that girl my sister hates and who has annoyed me already, after only ten seconds on the screen. I blame the fact that Jon and Stephen are on vacation (again!) this week. See what happens when I have nothing to watch?

ETA:
I. I missed the end (I turned when something got too gross and by the time I realized I'd forgotten to see how it all turned out, the show was over), but does every show spend the first 50 minutes "Its __!" No wait, maybe it's ___! I've got it, it's ___!" in regards to the actual illness, only to have someone (House, right?) come up with five minutes left and go "No. Why didn't I notice this before, it's ___!"...The End? Because it seems like that is what the one I watched earlier did too. Is that the show's "thing"?

II. The whole "everyone goes by their last name" gimmick kind of confuses me. Example: when I was looking at Wikipedia and read that Chase has always had a thing for Cameron, I was really confused. Note to Self: Omar Epps = Foreman. Foreman =/=Cameron.

III. Speaking of which, I don't know if it was just the episode I watched or what, but House and Wilson are pretty gay... for each other. What was up with that whole "You are dating a woman just like me!" ::awkward silence:: stuff? And why was House being such a blocker? If you have a friend who is dating someone you like, you don't stalk them and have everyone go "Hey, about that chick you're dating? She's just using you!", what you do is sit back, wait for it to fail and then go, "Oh, it didn't work out? That's messed up!!" while secretly thinking, "It's about time!" That way you don't look like a crazy person. I am not speaking from experience on this one.. nope, not at all.

I think I am over this whole "working" thing. You know how I always say get really into something and then suddenly one day am all, "You know what? I think this kind of sucks!" and then gradually lose all interest in whatever it was that didn't suck so much in the first place? Well, that is what has happened with work. The only difference is, work never not-sucked. So, now that I am in the "this sucks!" phase, it's even worse. It's like "This sucks a whole lot!" In the immortal words of a not-so-wise man, "this sucks more than anything that has ever sucked before.We must find this butt-hole that took our TV." People keep talking about Christmastime and "next year" and all of this stuff. Let me tell you, if I am still in there at Christmas, I'm gonna have to commission someone to shoot me in the head. (Do you know we already have Christmas trees up? It is August! And like 1/3 of the place is filled with Christmas decorations! Now, don't get me wrong, I lovelovelove most things Christmas, but really, this is ludicrous and ridiculous and all kinds of other adjectives that end in -ous that mean "just craziness!"::shakes head::)

( and once the posting is done, guess which one's next... )

And now, the obligatory meme! (What? It's what I do!) The original instructions are below, but I am gonna (possibly) do something a bit different with it. (It depends on how non-slack I am feeling.) Also, ask me other things! It's like bean and her video, only... not really. There are questions. And there will be answers. But there will be no video. But other than that, the situations are completely identical!

Fill in the blanks using the seven questions below to ask me anything. Then, if you want, post this in your own LJ and see what kind of things people want to ask you. I will answer honestly, so have at it.

1) What do you think of __________?
2) When did you last __________?
3) __________ or __________ and why?
4) What did you __________?
5) What's your favorite __________?
6) How would you __________?
7) Who would you most like to __________?
8) Why did you __________?

Have you ever watched a movie you know you have seen before, yet when it gets to the Big Climactic Ending, you had totally forgotten what happened and when it did you were looking at the screen you (not the movie) were all going in slow motion like "Noooooo!" and then the Big Thing went down and you were (literally) like "Holy S@#!"? Well played movie, well played.

Does anyone watch "Burn Notice"? I am gearing up for the impending return on television by catching up on all of the stuff I should have been watching all along but had not (It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, Mad Men, Life, maybe the second half of Pushing Daisies. If I get really bored, the second half of Chuck. Probably not though. Oh, and all of the episodes of The Black Donnellys that never made it to air.), and I keep being told that I need to watch it. But, I just saw a commercial for it, and it looks like a big action bang-bang, shoot-em-up kind of thing. That's not usually my speed, but I keep hearing that it's good. And why can't I find last night's debut episode of The Cleaner?

This relates to nothing, but yesterday my supervisor (and stuff) actually used the "word" broughten. I am pretty sure she is functionally illiterate.

And in closing, why isn't it September yet?

ETA: One more super-wussified band on The Report and I'm gonna have to.. well, I will still be watching, but with actual complaints. First Coldplay, now Rush. Come on Stephen, cut it out!

There is serious weather going on here. I mean TV-Interrupting Serious. There was no Survivor in Greensboro today, because it has been nonstop weather coverage. There was no "Office" or "30 Rock" today.. weather. But there was Lost. That's right, WGHP knows what's up... let everyone else do "oh man! There may be tornadoes!", there will be "Lost"! But not just any Lost! That's right, a Locke-centric Lost, AKA Guaranteed Greatness.

Really, when I have the TWoP window open, waiting for 11:00 to hit, you know something is up. I have not been there in ages, but by 10:10, I had it ready to go. Of course I ended up in the spoiler thread, but I did not see anything beyond the vague "someone is going to die!" and then I left (and headed to the Ben thread) before I read anything I could not unread. Spoiler-free is clearly the way to go.

Oh man.. it is 10:08 and there are 3 pages in the "Cabin Fever" thread. I must put my enthusiasm on hold and return later. [Oh my God! Stop doing weather voice-overs over my Daily Show "Back In Black" segment National Weather Service!!! Tornadoes! They told me to go into the basement and get away from the windows. What?!] I am pretty sure this will end up with me just randomly gushing about things I saw that were cool and/or confusing. Yeah, that sounds about right.


I can tell you right now, the scene at the end with the candy? As soon as Lost Media updates, that will be my new wallpaper.

Here is stuff I wrote at like 6PM. It has no point, but I was bored, and my mom's music was really, really bad.
( And it was cross-genre bad. Oh, how I hate that station! )

And in closing, today is payday. According to all of my job-related literature, payday is Friday. This means that, in theory, I should be able to pick up my check at any time during business hours on Friday. This makes sense, yes? So, obviously, that is not how we are going to do things. Someone in our back office has decided that that's just too big of a window, so they have instituted some ridiculous policy where you can only pick up your checks from 12-3. This means that if you have to work at 5, you have to come in early to get your check. If you ride the bus to work, this means you have to come in 2 hours early, pick up your check and hang out. If you ride the bus to work (for an hour and twenty minutes!) this means that in order to be at work at 5PM on a Friday you will have to leave your house at 1:20. Really?! Someone is not amused. I will give you three guesses who... and the first two don't count.

Oh, and I am pretty sure I need to see Iron Man. In fact, I am almost positive.

The Prestige? Am I the next-to-next-to-last person (including Ma and that dude I was talking to at work yesterday) to see this? And if so, how come nobody told me how great it was? That is a serious failing on the behalf of the rest of the world.  When a movie is as good as that one, I'm gonna need people to let me know about it. (According to a friend, my brother and sister, they did. Yet, I recall nothing of the sort. Lies, I say!) You know I don't really do "going to the movies" and with it being a bit of a hassle to get to the video store (They keep closing. What's that about?), I don't keep up with movies unless they have someone who is on my "must see" movie list. (This is why, until a few days ago, I had seen the subpar Illusionist, and not the stellar Prestige. Downgrade! You got me that time, Norton! ::shakes fist:::)

I bought it (for 5 bucks at the video store. You know, the one that is closing.) for "Hugh Jackman and Magic!",  but by the end I was like "Wait a minute, am I starting to like Christian Bale?" I went into it pretty ambivalent on him (Yeah, he was great in American Psycho, but that is all I have ever seen him in. I really want to see The Machinist, but I don't think I would physically be able to look at the screen.) but by the end I was like "I think I need to see that Batman movie everyone is always raving about!" And you know things are serious if I am talking about watching a comic book movie. Good work, Mister Bale! Really, I was like "What is going on!?" for most of it. Not that I was confused; I was trying to figure out the twist. I knew from the opening speech that there had to be one, so I was paying extra attention, trying to figure it out. Then, every time I thought I had it figured out, something changed. When it was done, I took it out of the DVD player before the credits even rolled to tell Ma "You have to watch this!" I have not done that since Fight Club. And I would have immediately watched it again (as with FC), but it was 2AM and I had to work that morning. The next day I checked the book out from the library. It is different than the movie, but knowing what the big twist is makes it even better, because it's like "Oh, I see what you're doing there and I like it!" So, good work Christopher Priest!

Has anybody seen Raging Bull? I also got that one (for $5). I figured it's DeNiro and Scorsese, so it can't be too bad. I mean, they did Casino, Cape Fear and Goodfellas, so even if it is the worst of those four, it should still be pretty good, right? The dude at the register had not seen it either, just offered that "it's supposed to be a classic." Yeah, I knew that much. I will report back on this one once I have watched it. Though, up first I have to watch "Sleuth". It's got Jude Law, and everyone knows how I hate feel about him.

So here is a bunch of stuff I wanted to post about yesterday, but was too sleepy too. And of course I am supposed to be working in the Old Job now, but I am not. But that's okay, I still have the rest of the day... well, until 8, at which point I must settle in for Serious Television Watching, followed by lots of "slacking" of the reading and posting variety. And somehow, I must acquire tacos. Well, unless 54 cent taco Sundays is a thing of the past. In that case, tacos are a no-go. Man, as exciting at the pre-cut stuff is, just imagine what the post-cut area holds! (answer: sports, tv, work stuff, vocabulary issues and stuff white people like.)
( cut for rambling... )

Seriously, I'd de-internet until Sunday, but I have to do work-related stuff. And since the new job seems to be on a mission to take up All Of My Time, I have to do the old job stuff now. (And by "now" I mean after Eli Stone goes off so I can rewind the tape and watch Lost, then make the rounds to read about Lost, then possibly watch Survivor and repeat the whole "internet rounds" thing. And maybe catch the 1AM Stewart/Colbert replays. Sometimes this weekend I need to find and watch the Project Runway finale, as yesterday I missed it. Throw in the fact that I have two episodes of Jericho to watch, and need to go back and rewatch the premier of New Amsterdam, and it becomes apparent that the New Job is getting in the way of my Serious Television Watching.) Did I mention that the Biggest Game of The Year is on Saturday? (Of course I will be at work while it's happening? Where else would I be? ::shakes fist angrily in work's general direction::) Seriously, if this ridiculous 55 hours a week thing does not wrap up soon, there are gonna be some serious issues around these parts. I keep going to bed before 2AM. That's just wrong.

Oh, both Annoying Orientation Woman and Annoying Complaining Coworker are no more. It turns out that bosses do not look too highly upon either "standing around doing nothing" or "talking back". Who would have thought? But, tomorrow is payday, so there is that to look forward to. Man, is it Sunday yet? Wait... the bank will be closed then. Is it Wednesday?!

I totally fell asleep during the Duke/?? (I can't even remember who we played) game, but we won by 30. This should hopefully put an end to the Daily Carolina Fan Heckling Emails. As I tried to watch the game, CBS kept switch back and forth between Duke/St./John's (that's who it was!) and Kentucky/Arkansas. This would not have been as much of a problem, but I was halfway asleep (waking up at 8:15 has that effect on me) and as the Kentucky game was at UK, that meant that it was a red-uniformed away team vs a blue-on-white away team on a blue floor in each game. This leads to confusion, thus is not good. I'd look up and be like Huh? The score?" then get acclimated... only to have it switch again. And then I fell asleep. A Dickie V-free game, a 30-point blowout... and I slept through it all. But that's okay, there is still Memphis/Tennessee - two teams I don't care about, but I game I must watch anyway.

( cut for sports and random youtube-age... )

I was gonna talk about work (today was orientation, my actual first day as a member of the tax-paying workforce band of suckers is Tuesday.) I was only there for two hours today (hence the 8:15 wakeup) and I have already found a least favorite co-worker, and heckled her with other co-workers. Really, it never takes me long. And maybe later I will talk about how I finally got around to watching Jericho, and have deemed it "A pretty good show. Why did I not watch this back when my one friend kept harassing me to watch it?"

Alright, here's the TV meme that I had ready to go yesterday, but had to cut in order to not have made the Longest Post Ever.
 
Rules: Choose five series (no peeking before you choose them), list them, and then answer the questions behind the cut.

I could not decide on which ones to use, so I drew from a hat (okay, a pocket) and here's what I ended up with.
1. Lost
2. The Wire
3. Oz
4. Rome
5. Six Feet Under

I think I have found a new favorite thing on the internet... and that thing is podcasts. Yes, I know I am late on this, but let's remember... I am relatively new to the world of "not using dial-up". Plus, it provides me a chance to harness the power of my fast connection for something, ummmm, legal. This is a welcome change from my usual activities. (I typed those last two sentences, and this parenthetical thing, without looking at the keyboard. And I made less typos than I do in my normal typing. The only words I misspelled were "connestion" and "ketboars". Perhaps I need to type everything like this... eyes on the tv, not on the monitor. It seems my "where the keys are" memory is better than my... I don't know, whatever it is that one uses when typing consciously.) Yes, that was pointless.


Random sports-related fact (sorry, the game is on. I can't help it). This is the first full-weekend of conference play and so far there have been four games, decided by less than nine points... total. That either means that this is going to be an excellent season, or that some people got really, really lucky. I hope it's the former. Really, I do! Of course, at the half, we are up on UVa by 12, so...

And, one final note: when thinking "You know, there are three boxes of lasagna noodles in the refrigerator, and I bought that ricotta cheese awhile back, and need to get it into some lasagna before it goes bad." and you get the noodles boiling and are just about to start chopping the peppers and onions? This is about ten steps too late to think "Wait. Do we even have any spaghetti sauce?" and check the cabinet. Because, maybe you won't. And then what? Then your Lasagna Night becomes Hamburger Night.

ETA: If you get caught up washing dishes while trying to cook dinner during the 20-minute halftime,  and forget to turn the stove down, your burgers end up being too crispy and small for your liking. The former burgers end up getting crumbled up and put in a bowl for Future Lasagna Night, making Hamburger Night either Pork Chop Night or Every Man For Himself Night, depending on the "mood for cooking" when the game is done.

I decided to go with TV over books, as I had a big discussion about this today as a part of the Epic Conversion Battle '08 (this time with a predicted 200% more success!). With my sister gone and my brother off in the land of the Cable-Free Cult, my only outlet for "Oh man! Did you see what happened on....?!" is Ma. My brother was the perfect TV watching partner. We liked all of the same shows (still do, but he has no cable and I am at least 50% sure is not "supposed" to be communicating with me. This has put a serious cramp in my TV-watching program), and were always in agreeance on what "ruled" and what "sucked". My sister and I have pretty dissimilar tastes, so she is No Good. (I mean, she watches House and Grey's Anatomy. That's Double Fail.) This leaves Ma. Her TV tastes consist of pretty much "anything that is on CBS", anything involving cops and most things sci-fi. This is pretty Fail-worthy as well, but she also watches Law & Order, Prison Break and Survivor.. two of which I was partially-responsible for getting her into. And, as I've mentioned, she is all I've got. So today I loaded up the flash drive with some things I have decided she needs to be watching. Things I like that I know she will. Things that I am all in here like "Oh man!" about... but have no one to "Oh man!" with. And so it begins...

( Cut 1: In which I get on board with British television... )

( Cut 2: In which I spoil five seasons of a show you're not even watching... )

( Cut 3: Remember when I said I would not watch Volume 3? Meet the one man who changed that. )

So, Heroes is gone, right? This is not news. When is Heroes coming back? Who knows. This is also not news. What this means is that there has not been much activity around these parts lately. And if I was to wait on Heroes, there probably would not be for a while... and, if things were to continue along the same path as the end of volume II, it would probably not be pleasant. Thus, it is time for a change.

The next few days/week herald the return of three of my favorite things: The Wire (As soon as I open Media Player and hit "Play" Sunday!), Lost (January 31st!) and NCAA basketball season (Conference play starts this week! But there are a few pretty big games coming up this weekend - on Saturday there's Kansas/Boston College at noon, Louisville/Kentucky at 4, UCLA/California at 6! Sunday is Duke/Cornell at 5:30 and Carolina/Clemson at 7:30. Those are not as exciting, but the first one involves my team and the second is CONFERENCE PLAY! You say you don't care? I say "my basketball talk is your, "Oh man, gay Heroes!" Hello, and welcome to my world.)

( The sports talk is done, but there is still much to say about a show you don't watch. )

Oh cable, how I have missed you! Its first day back, VH1 Classic (one of the few channels I missed when going from digital to standard cable) was doing a marathon of "Classic Albums"... when I got up, it was Fleetwood Mac's Rumours (own it and love it!), followed by The Who's Who's Next (own it and love it!) followed by Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (don't own it, In fact, I've never heard it. This is a problem). Then there was a marathon of "I Love New York!" and today it was season 4 of "Project Runway". I thought there was a game on today, but it seems that I must have imagined that constantly running commercial that said there was.... Super Saturday, what happened? So now I am watching the Patriots and Giants. I don't really care about football, I could not pick either Eli Manning or Tom Brady out of a lineup, and really I just wanted to watch "Good Night and Good Luck", but it's supposed to be a "big game", and nothing else is on... so it will do.

And, as an added bonus, what I thought was going to be a simple cold, has taken a wrong turn at "sinus issue", resulting in what is referred to in medical circles as, "my face hurts". But I have work to do, so I will play through it... either that, or get back in the bed.

And now.. a meme!
a. post a list of 15-20 tv shows you love (current or cancelled)
b. have your friends list guess your favorite character from each show.
c. when guessed bold the line and write a little bit about why you like that character, or your favorite quote. (include a picture if you want!)