Category: tv

I may be going to see the Kids in the Hall!!

Do you watch Once and Again? You should. Next to Six Feet Under, it’s the best show on TV. The characters are deep and played beautifully. Even the guest stars, tonight it’s Patrick Dempsey returning as Lily’s crazy brother, are fantastic. So, watch it. Reward quality with viewership, and stop supporting crap shows like Survivor. Please?

I watched 9/11 last night. Thanks to TiVo, I didn’t have to watch it Sunday night after driving all day, but could wait until I was ready for it. I wasn’t, but I watched anyway. It was unbelievable. I cried like a child several times. The best/worst moment was the brothers reunion at the firehouse. The raw relief in their embrace was magical and I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. I appreciate CBS’s choice to air it, and as much as I normally despise network television, they did an excellent job conveying the tragedy of the day without showing us the gore that we all knew existed. The sound of the impact of falling bodies was enough. The mad dash to get out of the collapsed trade center only made the fate of those trapped on higher floors that much more real and painful.

I hope that, in the years to come, they show this documentary in schools when they talk about this time. I think it captured the moment for not only the firefighters in New York (how would I know, but the unions say they’re happy with it), but for me. The impotent anger of Tony, stuck at the firehouse with nothing to do but watch the news: that was me, stuck in my living room watching CNN, with no way of knowing what was going to happen next, powerless to do anything but watch.

I’m sure that maybe he’s embarrassed my some of the things he said in the days and weeks following, as am I. But, I decided a couple months ago that I was going to leave my posts from September up as a reminder. I say stupid things, and most of them unrelated to tragedy. I’m especially stupid in the process of figuring things out. I said some stupid and embarrassing things on this site right after it happened, and well, I’m ok with that. People all over the world said stupid things, and that’s just part of the process of coming to grips with the world changing with no warning. I think keeping a site like this is to give a picture of ourselves, and my posts from then were a picture of me at the time, as 9/11 is a picture of the guys in the firehouse. The picture may be embarrassing at times, but that’s life. I want desparately to go back and edit those old posts and take out the things I know I shouldn’t have said, or the assumptions I had that don’t make sense now. But, that would be dishonest to the time and to myself. I felt the need at the time to post them, so they must have felt important at the time, and for that reason, I’m leaving them as is.

Let’s hope we never have to go through this again, and if we do, at least I’ll keep my mouth shut until we know what’s going on, and have had time to process and come to terms with what’s happened.

My son is being brainwashed. He’s a member of the pint-sized Blue Army, and there isn’t much I can do about it. I am weak before its power. I have surrendered him to power greater than my own. He wears his almighty “Teve-schurt” all the time, and waits impatiently when it needs to be washed. He constantly chants his eternal question, “Boo? Boo?” until I relent and let him gaze upon the indoctrination of the sacred “clues” and mystical “paw prints”.

Is Blue’s Clues a gateway drug into the world of harder television? Will he come in some day twitching his remote finger and asking for just another hit of the Fonz? I am powerless to stop it. Not because I can’t, but because I lack the will power to curb my own TV addiction (now powered by 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.

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.

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.