Ultranormal

Category: entertainment

  • Please, Mr. TiVo

    Jen and I have talked about this one a couple times, and man, I wish TiVo would just do it. TiVo should have playlists. For example, say you have a two year old who loves Blue’s Clues and you’re exhausted because said toddler woke up too early. Wouldn’t it be great to hit the Keep Max Happy playlist, put it on repeat, and escape to the couch for more sleep? Yeah, that’s what I thought.

  • Yesterday afternoon was all REM

    Yesterday afternoon was all REM and for no other reason than I listened to my Randy Newman stuff and REM was next in iTunes’ playlist. I didn’t have the heart to change to something else. There’s something comforting about REM (the old stuff). It’s safe and sweet and innocent and reminds me of junior high parties in basements, games of sardines and hours spent trying to sing along with It’s The End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine).

  • Connie Chung is joining CNN

    Connie Chung is joining CNN, and will host an hour-long show at 8pm in the Spring. The show hasn’t been named yet. In an attempt to be as helpful as possible to the newest member of the AOL-Time Warner family, I’ve come up with a list of possible titles for her show:

    • On The Bottom Rung With Chung

    • She could get together with Wayne Brady from Who’s Line and have a Crossfire-like: Wayne-Chung Hour (sorry, I really couldn’t help it)

    • In the same vein, she and Larry King could combine their shows for the canned Chung King Show (does anyone else remember Chung King canned Chinese food?)

    • In the spirit of ESPN’s new design treatment, they could call it just CONNIE

    • Pro and Connie

    • On The Down Low with cChung

    • She could get together with Aaron Brown and Wolf Blitzer and call it The News, Brought to You By A, B and C

  • Weekend Notes In no particular

    Weekend Notes

    In no particular order:

    • Max has decided that sleeping through the night is not the best idea in the world. He’s taken to waking up at random intervals during the night and/or insanely early and not letting us hear the end of it until one of us goes and gets him. I am not pleased. He’s been such a good sleeper almost his whole life. This can’t start now! Sleep, little man, sleep!!! You’re like you’re mom. You love to sleep. You would sleep for 18 hours a day if you didn’t like Blues Clue’s so much. Yeah, maybe that’ll work.
    • It’s time to go get new glasses. I can’t tell if it’s sinus pressure, or what, but I’m having a hard time focusing today.
    • This weekend’s playoff games were all great. They were all extremely different. There were two close ones, two complete dismantlings of different kinds, some amazing plays (that trick “What’s the call?” direct snap by the Steelers ties the wacky WR Reverse lateral by the Rams during the regular season as coolest play ever). I love the playoffs, but there are only three more games this year until the Hall of Fame game and the rest of the pre-season fun at the end of the summer.
    • So, now that Aiden’s out of the picture on Sex and the City, is Carrie going to move in with Miranda? Jen brought this up as we were trying to go to sleep. Aiden’s moving out, but he bought Carrie’s apartment. So, that logically means that Carrie’s gonna get evicted eventually, right? There are only two or three more episodes in the mini-season, so I’m not quite sure how that’s going to work out.
    • Six Feet Under won the Golden Globe for best drama. Wow, that’s an amazing accomplishment for a show in its first season and with such a short run. I can’t wait for the second season to start in March (about the same time the new Sopranos season starts).
    • Now that we have TiVo, I’ve noticed that we’ve stopped watching a lot of the network shows we used to. We’re replacing them with either late-night talk recorded the night before, or cable shows from during the day. Boston Public and Ally McBeal were the first to go (Ally’s just been horrible this season, but it was a habit. TiVo: the habit forming habit breaker). That’s Life was next. How many more will fall off the Season Pass list before we are fully assimilated?

  • I woke up this morning

    I woke up this morning to my alarm. I got up, took a shower, applied deodorant, brushed my teeth and hair, got dressed, went downstairs, put on my shoes, took my medicine, went out the door, got in the car and turned it on. As the radio came on, I heard the tail end of the traffic report: “Traffic is light all over today because of the holiday.” Doh! I went back inside, heard Max stirring, went upstairs and fetched him, fed him, watched Meet the Press from yesterday (bless you, TiVo), ate some breakfast and mentally kicked myself for forgetting that I get today off.

  • This is the best news

    This is the best news I’ve gotten in a loooo-ooong time. Wallace and Gromit are coming back in twelve one-minute shorts, and the best part is, they’ll all be online for free later this year.

  • TiVo Weekend Movie Review: Thanks

    TiVo Weekend Movie Review:

    Thanks to TiVo, I watched a couple weird movies this weekend. The first, Jesus’ Son stars Billy Crudup as a Heroin junkie and all-around useless fellow who finds his calling in a “home”. It’s odd, and I should have paid more attention. The movie’s uneven, and probably not really worth watching other than Billy Crudup’s performance, and the scenes with Dennis Hopper and Denis Leary.

    I also watched most of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. I saw it when it first came out on video, but I don’t remember it being quite so disturbing. It’s a movie I’ll have to watch in half-hour episodes. But, if you loved the show, you’ll want to see the movie. It’s just plain twisted though, so don’t watch it late at night or without all the lights on (yes, I’m a big chicken).

  • I’ve been listening to Feelings

    I’ve been listening to Feelings almost non-stop for the past 36 hours (when not sleeping or doing something else). It’s an amazing album. The more I listen to it, the better it gets. I was a huge Talking Heads fan, but David Byrne always seemed to be fighting his voice on those albums. He was trying to corral it into something it wasn’t. I don’t own the albums he did between Rei Momo and this one (a problem that will shortly be rectified), but this album really shows off his voice. He’s not straining against it, and doing some amazing things. It’s gorgeous. Also, his choice of instruments, and layering of textures is sublime. The Balanescu Quartet provides haunting strings on several songs, my favorite being Burnt by the Sun and Finite (Alright).

    His lyrics on this album are also a point of praise. Both songs mentioned above are beautiful stories in themselves. He matches music to lyrics so well.

    What am I saying? Go out and buy it! Even if you hate his old stuff, this is well beyond anything he did with Talking Heads, and I know you’ll hate me for this, but it’s even better than Rei Momo.

  • Someone at work loaned me

    Someone at work loaned me Prodigy’s old Fat of the Land album. (sorry, I’m doing my best Larry King impression here) For my money, there isn’t a song that makes me want to move my ass more than Breathe. The cockney accent, that beat, the riff… Oh yes, this is my large ass movin’.

  • Sex and The City is

    Sex and The City is back!! I know this is late, but thanks to TiVo, we didn’t watch it until last night. I forgot how much I missed the show. It’s the most perfect sitcom. It’s dirty and touching and funny all at the same time. It warms my little heart.