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Thursday, May 20, 2004
What's the big deal?
I guess because I use Blogger somewhat regularly (depending on your defintion, I guess), I got selected for a GMail account. I haven't thought much of it, although it's under consideration as my primary account when I ditch the Mindspring one (which may be sooner rather than later). But I never realized how prized one of these accounts can be. If I only I knew ...
On a related note, I am looking to move my Web site (and maybe my e-mail) to my own domain. Anyone with suggestions for hosts and plans like that, feel free to leave some comments or e-mail me.
posted at 8:59 PM
Pulling the plug
The almost final results for this season's LaPlaca Open are in (we're just waiting for the Drew Carey and Oliver Beene burnoffs). I didn't do as bad as the season before when ABC seemed to make a minor comeback and Fox just decided not to air some shows (although Septuplets is supposedly coming this summer, about 18 months too late for the contest).
I only missed two shows. Many seemed to whiff on "Two and a Half Men," but I believe CBS had it somewhere other than Monday night when the schedule was first released. If not, then have we not learned from "Yes, Dear" or even "Baby Bob" that a family watching a test pattern will get ratings on the Big Eye on Monday nights? "Tru Calling" was a close call, and I ended up losing. I guess the shelf life for a wacked-out Fox drama featuring a hot brunette is two seasons, not one -- buzz or no buzz. (Have we not learned from "Dark Angel"?)
But my eight other choices did come through:
-- Friends: Easy, although people got burned last season when they said this would be the one where the show finally ended
-- The Drew Carey Show: I probably should get those points by the end of the summer
-- The Practice: Firing most of the cast screamed "Fraught," but I got scared when James Spader actually perked up ratings.
-- Jake 2.0: Bad title and premise. Plus, it was on UPN. If it isn't Smackdown, Tyra Banks or Star Trek, you're toast.
-- The Mullets: See Jake 2.0. Seemed like a nice SNL concept, though.
-- L.A. Dragnet: When you replace Ethan Embry (a potential show-killer himself) with the U.N., you've got problems. Plus, the lead-in was the "Wonderful World of Disney." Can't we get Pep Strebeck back?
-- Boston Public: The move to Fridays was a death knell. Plus, most of us at work still can't think of the show without the first ads featuring Fyvush Finkel leering at one of his students. And that was how long ago?
-- Threat Matrix: Seemingly anything with the word "Matrix" in it released after 1999 has sucked.
posted at 3:32 PM
Wednesday, May 19, 2004
The new good books
I'll admit I've never read a Harry Potter or Left Behind book, but Slate does a solid job in pointing out the similarities between the two series, and noting the big difference between the two (which probably helps explain some of the attitudes toward the books):
Left Behind is Christian and Harry Potter pagan, but rather that Left Behind is Protestant and Harry Potter is Catholic. One of the chief theological arguments between Catholics and Protestants has been over whether salvation is earned through faith or by good works. ...
Left Behind is fatalistic; Harry Potter sees outcome determined by individual actions. Both provide a roadmap for how to live a good life, but in one case the key is morality, and in the other it is faith.
posted at 9:23 PM
I know (the origins of) Kung Fu
Given how much time I spend doing trivia-type stuff, I obviously took great interest in this article on books specializing in general knowledge-type stuff. I already owned this book mentioned in the column, and I'll have to get the one written by the folks at Slate.
As the story states, there is a growing market for stuff like this. I'm a big fan of Mental Floss, and not just because Victoria has written for them. It is interesting that wanting to know stuff is becoming "hip," although in this Google-based world, it probably isn't too surprising. People need and want to know stuff, and thanks to the Internet, it can happen somewhat quickly. And yet, I still think the pursuit of knowledge still seems marginalized.
While game shows like Jeopardy and Who Wants To Be a Millionaire? are very popular, there's often a wonderment over the successful contestants, as if they're freaks of nature or something because they know stuff. And yet, many people take great pleasure when the "media" mess up some factual error in some report, or, even worse, Jay Leno exposing regular people for knowing nothing in his "Jaywalking" segment.
Many of us still take on that basic teenage idea that we "know everything," but when someone shows that he or she knows more, there's a defensive reaction of, "How did he/she know that?" or worse yet, "Why does he/she know that?" (That even comes up in quizbowl competitions where most of us try to take pride in knowing lots of stuff.)
I like the attitude Mental Floss editor Will Pearson takes toward his magazine. "It's about people learning information they always thought they should know."
And one last note, Todd, the writer of the CNN story, helps run a popular bar trivia business down here in Atlanta, so I wouldn't be surprised if some of the information gleaned from these books ends up in a contest one of these days.
posted at 4:33 PM
You're canceled
I believe we're just waiting for Fox to announce its fall schedule, and we can come up with the final results on this season's LaPlaca (thank you, ABC, for burning off Drew Carey in the summer so I can get points).
Only a couple of people mentioned Ed on their lists, even though it was pretty much done after last season. But now that it's officially toast, here's a long tribute to the journey of our favorite bowling alley lawyer.
posted at 3:22 PM
Tuesday, May 18, 2004
Aaargh!
The last time I went to a Braves game, I saw a triple play. So of course, I decide not to go to the stadium tonight with Randy Johnson pitching, and I miss a perfect game.
Poor Braves, in consecutive games, Ben Sheets knocks them out for 18 strikeouts and now Randy Johnson fires a perfect game.
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