Category: tv

So, it’s 9pm on Sunday night, and my favorite show of the summer is starting. I bought a 25 ft. phone cord last night so I can sit on the couch in the sunroom, watch TV and be signed on. Yeah, baby. This is my substitute or wireless networking, my friends. I would love to have DSL, a wireless gateway, wireless network cards and other cool tools, but hey, that costs money. The phone cord was $2.99. Here’s dreaming.

My computer downstairs isn’t even connected to a phone line. It’s three years old, starting to breakdown, and there’s no replacement on the horizon. Yeah, baby, this is the highlife.

Why do I bring this up? No idea… just rambling. I’m the only one I know of my friends at work with a wife, a kid and a mortgage, well, with a wife that stays home. (take your meds, Billy… sorry Six Feet Under moment). I love my life, but I sometimes watch my friends and wonder what it would be like to be able to go out on the weekend without worrying about Max and if he’s all right. To be able to go out and spend money without worrying about the mortgage. Yep, responsibility… it’s a bitch. But, I really (and I mean it this time) wouldn’t have it any other way. Max only gets more fun. He’s hilarious. He’s not saying words, but his babbling is becoming more intoned and animated. It’s too funny to listen to him babble away.

It’s funny. We make decisions with no real idea what the consequences will be. Thankfully, most of the time, things work out. We make it work. I’m glad that when I got married I knew what I was getting into. I knew what I wanted out my marriage, and I think we’re doing a pretty good job as a couple and as parents. So, that’s the state of the union. Now, back to the show… and Sweetie, I’m sorry. I hit the record button @ 9, but it didn’t start. I’ll fill you in when you get home.

Just because I’m a glutton for punishment, I watched Six Feet Under again. Yes, the one that ruined me on Sunday. Why? Jen hadn’t seen it, and I talked it up so much, she had to. So, I sat there and steeled myself against what I knew was coming. I got a little choked up, but no actual tears this time. Yes!

You know what’s sad though? Jen didn’t cry at all, didn’t even snorffle once! I was amazed. Her explanation was that she had detached herself from it and it didn’t get to her. Yeah, well, it got to me, lady… it got me good.

I’m still basking in the glow of my genius from yesterday. So much so that I’m not even thinking about any rumored impending layoffs.

Max digs couscous!! I went a little nuts at the grocery store the other night and got couscous and hummus and other weirdities. The hummus was assy, but that couscous was yummy. Max used his little spoon on the little pasta and fed himself until we had to stop him. He’s a funny kid.

Ruined Six Feet Under ruined me last night. In the first two minutes, I knew what was going to happen. I wanted to turn the TV off, run upstairs and check on Max, even though I know he’s almost two and that SIDS happens between birth and 18 months. The very thought that something like that could happen was enough. I cried.

Then, when Frederico had to embalm that three-week old baby and held his still little hand, I cried again. It was just so unfair that this young father (well, he’s the same age I am), who has one child and another imminent, had to deal with the idea of a dead child just stabbed me in the heart.

And the end of the show, when they had their own baby by c-section, JUST like we did, and the look on his face when he heard his new son cry for the first time – I lost it completely. I sat there alone in the dark with the credits rolling blubbering like a child.

I love that show. I love that it makes me feel. Most TV is absolute garbage. So much so that watching TV on Sunday (Sex and the City and Six Feet Under) makes the rest of the week painful. Jen mentioned that yesterday afternoon. She’s so smart.

I had the weirdest dream last night. It was a “this could have been your life” thing. What if I hadn’t been married when I moved to Virginia? What would things be like? It was odd, and in the end, I ended up married to Jen, and Max was there too, which is nice, but it was still very odd. I don’t normally have vivid and memorable dreams. I usually don’t remember them at all.

After yesterday’s geekFeat, I’m not up to really doing anything today. I’m just bored. I’m tired of “helping” people by answering questions all day about things they could have figured out on their own (man COMMAND – try it).

Hopefully it’s just because I’m tired. I stayed up last night to watch the new South Park, and then couldn’t go to bed with that image stuck in my head, so I stayed up to watch Jiminy Glick. It’s such an uneven show. The filler around the interviews sucks mightily. And, I’d have no desire to watch the show except for the interviews. They’re great. The Eugene Levy bit was very funny, especially when Dave Thomas came out as Bob Hope (does anyone else see an SNL/SCTV reunion theme here?). Hopefully, they’ll pull together the rest of the show… but I doubt it. It seems Martin Short’s career has been built on uneven stuff. He’s usually pretty funny, but he has his moments where things just don’t work.

Six Feet Under scared the (insert appropriate expletive) out of me. For the uninitiated, the show started out with the accidental death of a six year old boy who finds a gun under his mother’s bed. They dealt with it without the sentimentality of a Lifetime movie or a Touched by an Angel soft-focus lovefest. It rocked me. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose Max. I don’t want to either… If you have kids, give them a big hug and stop being such a bastard.

Big Brother is back. I watched it last night in between Max playing the drums with a metal spoon and pan. I must say, the prisoners this time are much nicer to look at than last year. The only problem was it just feels like The Real World now. Everyone was full of sexual tension, except for Holy Rollin’ Kurt. Part of the fun last year was the absolute stupidity of it all. It was a horribly funny train wreck that CBS didn’t have the heart to pull.

Oh, and can you believe that Julie Chen is back?! No, me neither!! Holy Crap, why?!

I wanted to write this before I lost the feeling. Six Feet Under is going to be a great show. Last night’s episode was so beautiful and painful. The last scene where Brenda takes David and Nate on the bus was the most cathartic thing I’ve ever seen on TV. The look on David’s face as he finally let go, finally opened the door and felt real grief was amazing. In a second he went from stuffy and cold to real and grieving. I couldn’t stop crying (yes, I can admit it, I cried). It was one of the only times television has made me do that, and I loved it.

In two hours of screen time, I love this show. I love the characters. I love the pacing of the show. Think about it. In TWO HOURS, I’ve become emotionally invested enough in the characters to CRY! Jen cried last week (sorry sweetie) and I came close. How amazing is that? It honestly doesn’t get better than this. I know people will disagree, but this show is better than the first two episodes of The Sopranos by far. I can’t wait to see where it goes…

I saw the CNNdotCOM story about Blogs on Sunday and I was sorely disappointed. It was basically a collection of soundbite quotes from a bunch of bloggers (Meg and Ev were the only people I recognized by name and/or face). It was a fluff piece that lasted maybe two minutes. Maybe it’ll show up on Headline News or something in the near future and spur some interest. I’d love to see some more mainstream media attention paid to the whole blog-nomenon (how’s that for a new word?).

On a separate note, Six Feet Under on HBO last night was GREAT. I’m hoping it turns out as good as the Sopranos has. The first episode was great, dark, funny, touching and heart-wrenching. It was great to see Peter Krause again (he was in the best sitcom ever, Sports Night). Everything about the show was great. The opening credits were some of the most original and mood-setting I can remember. The fake commercials were hilariously morbid. The characters leave me wanting more from them.

This show reminds me of some of my favorite shows of all time. The characterisation and stark sets remind me of the first 6 seasons of Homicide. The comedy is very dark, unlike anything I’ve seen on TV (that I can remember at the moment). It also reminds me of Once and Again. Like Homicide, the characters drive the plot, not the other way around, unlike a show like ER where it’s all about the accidents. The best shows let the characters provide the drama in their reaction to the plot, no matter how mundane or ordinary. Once and Again has its pot-boiler moments, but it’s the characters that I come back for. I hope Six Feet Under turns out to be as satisfying. If the first week is any indication, it will be and it’ll be a great summer.