kapgar

Got a license to kill...

I always enjoy taking some time to look back on the year as it is wrapping up and pick what I feel to be some of the best movies of the year. 

Last year, I did a top five movies. I was considering expanding that list to a top 10 for this year.

It was about this time that I realized I don't even think there are ten movies that I have seen this year that could qualify for a top movie list. So I checked out IMDb to see what movies have been released in 2006.

Sho' 'nuff. I couldn't find ten movies to populate the list.

And now for the top movies of 2006 that I've actually seen...

1. Casino Royale
I said I was going to like this movie and I did. As far as I'm concerned, this is the first good Bond film since 1989. And Daniel Craig was fantastic. I'm not going to rehash everything about this film since I already reviewed it here.

2. Stranger Than Fiction
This movie stands out not only as one of the best films of the year, but also as one of the best Will Ferrell films ever. Thank God he came out with this and Talladega Nights this year to make up for the crapfest selection of films he put out last year. Here's the review.

3. Over the Hedge
For an animation crew other than Pixar to have a movie listed here is a pretty big deal. Pixar typically represents the best of the best for me. However, this year was different. No, Cars was not bad. Just not as good as Hedge. Check the review.

4. Superman Returns
How often has this ever happened to me in the past? Two movies I have spent far too long idealizing in my head. Thinking to myself, "Wow! I really can't wait for it to come out in theaters!" And neither of them let me down. The first was Casino Royale, the second was Superman Returns. People worried about the fact that Bryan Singer was coming over from The X-Men series to take the helm of another superhero franchise that, like Batman, had seemingly overstayed its welcome. But it rocked. Simply put, it was a great time at the theater. What more could you ask for? Read about it here.

5. Thank You for Smoking
Ever have one of those movies that you see a single preview for and know, based solely on those 30 seconds, that you're gonna love it? Well, Thank You for Smoking was that movie for me. I'd never heard of it during the development process at all. I'd never heard word one about it until it was a mere month from release. And it looked spectacularly hilarious. Let me tell you something, it is. Aaron Eckard is a PR guy for a major smoking corporation. His job is to make smoking look good in a world that perceives tobacco as nothing more than "cancer sticks." And spin is something he excels at. You know the story of the guy who can sell an freezer to an eskimo? That's him. Eskimos would likely be his number one buyer by the time he's done. But the best parts of this movie are not just him putting a spin on his profession. The movie truly shines when Eckerd shares scenes either with his son or having meals with the MOD Squad (the Merchants Of Death). If you want to laugh, see this film.

I also have to give an honorable mention to V For Vendetta, which was far more fantastic than I ever could have imagined. Thank You For Smoking only narrowly edged it out on the list.

Of course, there are many movies I have yet to see that could make this list. So, before I get into my top movies, I'm going to list several "could have beens" as in "could have been on this list if I'd managed to get out to the theater to see them." In no particular order... Little Miss Sunshine, The Departed, Blood Diamond, The Pursuit of Happyness, Rocky Balboa, and The Queen. All of these movies were rated highly either by critics, my family, or by all of you out in the blogosphere and I've got a pretty good idea I'd enjoy them based just on what I've heard. Thankfully, four or five of them are still in theaters and I can see them. Let's just hope I get off my butt and do so.

Time is running out for us...

Okay, I know I said I was starting the wrap up with the Best Movies of 2006, right? Well, we rented a couple movies that we're going to watch over the course of today and tomorrow that I feel stand a legitimate chance of making the list. So I'm pushing that post back to tomorrow and gifting you all with the Best Albums of 2006 instead. Is the trade okay? Please say yes. Please?

Unlike last year, I've got a boatload of 2006 releases that I'd like to include. For this reason, I'm expanding it from a Top 5 list to a Top 10 list. I can't believe the sheer volume of music I picked up this year. And paring it down to ten was tough as well. I've still got an additional ten albums that I'm simply going to list as honorable mentions. Suffice it to say, it was a good year for music.

Oh yeah, and I don't tend to include live albums on my top lists of the year. Dunno why, I just don't. Besides, there's more than enough new studio releases to fill the list.

Well, here you go, regardless of if you preferred reading the movie list or not...

1. Thom Yorke - The Eraser
You know, you hear that the lead singer of a hugely popular band is putting together a solo effort and you begin to sweat. "Ohmigod! What's wrong with the band? Are they breaking up? Why couldn't he just do this new music with the band???" Well, the reason why is because this album is pretty far removed from what you've come to expect of Radiohead. Simply out of a desire to have more of a focus on his voice and be a bit more experimental with electronics, Yorke graces us with this album that shot to the top of many charts around the world and a couple songs were featured in soundtracks for films such as The Prestige and A Scanner Darkly. It's a fantastic and mesmerizing album that I can listen to over and over again without becoming bored. That says a lot. Check out "Black Swan" and "Harrowdown Hill."

2. Pearl Jam - Pearl Jam
I think in any other year, this would have been the tops of my list. And, for a majority of this year, it was my favorite album. But, sorry PJers of the World, it got bumped to #2 and by no fault of their own. Thom Yorke was just that damn good an album. This, however, is easily the finest release by Pearl Jam since, I'd argue, Vitalogy, which was one of the best albums of the 90s, in my humble opinion. For this album, the Boys du Jam pull out all the stops and give us one helluva rocker. I only wish I had been able to see them on tour supporting it. Alas, tickets for concerts just cost way too damn much these days. From the get go, my personal fave was "World Wide Suicide," but I also recommend "Severed Hand" and "Gone."

3. Amos Lee - Supply and Demand
Katie and I have been freaks for Amos Lee since we saw him open for Norah Jones at the Chicago Theater a couple years ago. He was a fantastic entertainer both musically and personally. He got the crowd into his act more than I have ever seen an opener do in the past. And we have purchased every album of his since that time. And not a single one has let us down. It's hard to nail down genres with many musicians and Lee is one of them. All I can say is that it's really great acoustic guitar music that does a great job of helping you kick back and take a load off. Check out "Shout Out Loud" and "Supply & Demand."

4. Landon Pigg - LP
It's amazing how many up-and-coming artists can thank the iTunes Store for their breakthrough success. The folks at iTunes like to pick up on a new artist each week and feature them as a free single. Landon Pigg was one such artist in 2006 with "Sailed On." Hey, it was how I discovered him. Just some good Brit pop/rock spanning both the mellow and harder-edged arenas with catchy riffs and memorable lyrics. Well, I liked it. You might know "Can't Let Go" from the radio and it is good. But so are "Great Companion" and "Tinman."

5. KT Tunstall - Eye to the Telescope
When I first saw her perform on, I believe, Late Night with David Letterman or The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (damn if I can remember which it was), I was enthralled. She was a one-woman act who looped her effects as she played them to build what amounted to a multi-piece band sound. It was fantastic. And, yes, while I know that pop radio picked up on her songs "Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" and "Suddenly I See" pretty heavily (practically to death), I still enjoy them immensely. But if you are tired of those two, check out "Other Side of the World" and "Miniature Disaster" instead.

6. G Love - Lemonade
It's kinda funny, but I've known of G Love for years. I had friends who listened to him as part of G Love and Special Sauce back in college. He was everywhere. But I never heard his music. Not one... that I'm aware of. This year, he's back in more ways than one. Collaborating with everyone from Jack Johnson to Tristan Prettyman, he's put together one heckuvan album here that I love and I am now very happy to call myself a fan. Download "Ride" and "Holla!"

7. The Killers - Sam's Town
This is probably one of the most critically anticipated albums of the year. Its release was heralded with all kinds of praise and yadda yadda yadda. I guess that's what happens when you're a nothing band from Las Vegas whose debut album Hot Fuss winds up going stratospheric on the power of three huge hit singles. So how does a band possibly reach that bar that they personally launched so high up that no one can seemingly grasp it? Well, it's tough to say the least. And I'm still not sure that this album will quite hit that mark, but it's still a good album. Just not quite as out-of-the-box great as the first. I'd recommend giving it a couple listens before passing final judgment, please. "While You Were Young" will be the song that is always played on the radio despite any other singles that come off the album much like "Mr. Brightside" was on Hot Fuss. Also check out "Bling (Confession of a King)" and "For Reasons Unknown."

8. The Dixie Chicks - Taking the Long Way
This was actually one of the top albums on my "most anticipated" list for the year. And it was worth the wait. The Chicks, in their first album since their in-concert anti-Bushie rant a few years back have smartly decided that they might need to broaden their appeal a bit since many of their old fanbase was turned off by their "un-American" attack. Bah! I say. Everyone has an opinion and we, as a country, support the right to have and share such opinions (even if the rant occurred in England). Anyway. Yes, this is still a country album, but with more of a crossover appeal than before. I highly recommend it. "Not Ready to Make Nice," "Voice Inside My Head," and "Taking the Long Way" are good starting points.

9. Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris - All the Roadrunning
I'm a junkie for Mark Knopfler, I'll admit it. I've been a fan of Dire Straits since I was a kid. I became fascinated just watching Knopfler finger pluck his electric guitar to perfection. And I've followed his solo career quite avidly. I own all his solo work and love every last bit of it. It has always had a bit of a crossover feel spanning both a lighter rock and harder country genres, so seeing him put out a full album's worth of collaboration with a well-known country artist such as Emmylou Harris was an inevitability. And I love it. The two voices blend together beautifully and the musicianship is spectacular as we Knopfler fans would expect. Try "This is Us" and "Red Staggerwing" on for size.

10. Eric Lindell - Change in the Weather
Once in a while, you make a mistake that turns out for the better. This was one such mistake. I was trying to download the free single of the week from iTunes from Lindell and accidentally clicked the "Buy Album" button instead. I was not happy. Instead of spending nothing, I waxed $10. Grrr... Thankfully, I've made the most of my money. Quite a bit, in all honesty. With a mix of blues and rock bringing life to this album, it's a thoroughly enjoyable album. Check out "Two-Bit Town," "Feel Like I Do," and "Sunny Daze."

Following is a list of honorable mentions. They're all still damn good, but just not quite good enough to edge their way on a Top 10. You should seriously give these a listen as well, though. In no particular order this time:

• The Wreckers - Stand Still, Look Pretty
• Matisyahu - Youth
• Daughtry - Daughtry
• Nas - Hip Hop is Dead
• Guster - Ganging Up on the Sun
• Jack Johnson - Sing-a-longs and Lullabies for the film Curious George
• John Legend - Once Again
• Dashboard Confessional - Dusk & Summer
• Justin Timberlake - Futuresex/Lovesounds
• Christina Aguilera - Back to Basics

I hope you were able to find at least one album that could pique your curiosity. There's quite a variety of genres represented here. But that's just what I'm like when it comes to music, I listen to a little bit of everything.

I really need to consider signing up for that iTunes affiliate program. I could make some serious dough off all this potential linkage.

Talkin' 'bout my girl...

Ahhhhh!!!! They kissed! They kissed! They kissed!

Who you might ask? Well, you'll have to watch the show to find out, but it does involve P.J. and one other main character from the new TBS series My Boys. And now they're going to make us wait until next season to find out what results from it.

Ahhhh!!!

Okay, so I've become hooked on it. Wha'cha gonna do about it? Katie became intrigued by the idea of this show back in November and started watching it when the first two episodes aired on November 28. Since the debut, TBS has aired two episodes every Tuesday night making it the only show that has given us new content every week throughout the notoriously dead programming month of December. This week, however, we had two episodes on Tuesday, two on Wednesday, and the finale last night.

Basically, My Boys is about P.J. (Jordana Spiro), a Chicago sports columnist whose beat is the Cubs, and the dynamic she shares with her five male friends, Bobby (Kyle Howard), Brendan (Reid Scott), Kenny (Michael Bunin), Mike (Jamie Kaler), and Andy (Jim Gaffigan) who is also her brother. She does have one female counterpart in Stephanie (Kellee Stewart) who helps by giving her a more girly girl shoulder to lean on from time to time. But, otherwise, she spends her time playing poker, tracking down interviews with sports stars, and voicing over about how similar life is to sports.

And the show has proven to be a lot of fun. Katie and I both enjoy watching it and how can that possibly be a bad thing?

Here are some reasons why the show is good...

Great cast dynamic
The characters are really funny and they work off each other quite well. My particular faves include Kenny who I liken to a 30-something Paul Finch from American Pie (hell, they even sound similar) and the "new guy" Bobby who started out as one of P.J.'s love interests but has since become one of the clan.

Not a big name in the bunch
While many networks would love to have a big name actor anchor a new show to guarantee some carryover viewership, this show has just the opposite... a bunch of no names. The only two you might recognize are Gaffigan (who had a bit part in 13 Going on 30 as the older version of Jennifer Garner's first love Chris Grandy and also costars with Michael Ian Black in the Sierra Mist commercials) and Stewart (playing Ashton Kutcher's love interest in Guess Who with Bernie Mac). It's actually a bit refreshing to have almost all new faces.

It's Chicago, baby!
While E.R. is set in Chicago, very little is done to establish this fact on a weekly basis. Honestly, the show could be set anywhere and no one would notice. Not that every single scene of My Boys is taped in Chicago locales, but they constantly make reference to Chicago either through the occasional visual reference or by talking about local teams like the Cubs, Blackhawks, Bears, and Bulls (the creator is clearly not a White Sox fan, I don't think I've heard a single mention of the Sox). The finale had a killer birthday scene set in Wrigley Field that Katie and I both loved and drooled over. Of course, it's all about "the city" and the suburbs are portrayed as evil incarnate much like any show about New York City tends to do with regard to Manhattan being better than all the other burroughs as well as upstate. But I can live with that.

Pretty cool guest stars
There is a recurring character in Trouty (Johnny Galecki) who is the friend of Kenny that nobody likes. He's loud, crude, scares away the women with his "playa" attitude, and... well... we all know someone like him. He's that terrible friend that winds up coming to some group event that you can never escape. But he's hopelessly dedicated to the betterment of the crew. Then there is P.J. and Andy's Aunt Phyllis (Laurie Metcalf) whose Bohemian way of life makes her P.J.'s personal hero. If you're starting to see a bit of a crossover with Roseanne, it's because My Boys writer Eric Gilliland also served as a writer and executive producer on Roseanne. And, finally, one of my favorite actors, Neil Flynn (the Janitor from Scrubs), made a guest turn as washed-up Cubs beanbrawler Danny Finn.

So, yes, while this show may seem to be marketed as a "chick show" along the lines of a Sex and the City, it's really not. The male dynamic is pretty strong, neither gender is marginalized at all, and, basically, it can be enjoyed by anyone willing to give it a chance.

If you need to play catch up, all 13 episodes from this season can be viewed in their entirety on tbs.com. Sadly, I just discovered their video player only works on Windows... BOOOOOOO on you, TBS!! Okay, time to download them from XTorrent. You brought this on yourself, TBS.

Oh yeah, for anyone still not sold, did I mention that Jordana Spiro is cute?

I have no idea when season 2 will be starting. But whenever it happens, Katie and I will be watching.

By the way, I've got to throw a thank you out to Chase who sent me a belated birthday present (what she's calling more of a Christmas and New Year's present to cover her butt) in David Sedaris' Barrel Fever and Naked. Thanks Chasey McChaser! You rock!

Tomorrow marks the first of my year-end multimedia wrap-up posts, so tune in for The Best Movies of 2006 (as seen by Kevin and Katie)

You want a piece of Chewbacca...

Would you like a bit of insight into the off-kilter goings on of my mind?

I was staring at the cover of the Firefly: The Complete Series DVD set that Dustin bought for my birthday.  For whatever reason, I started creating a mental parallel between those characters aboard the Serenity throughout the series and those on board the Millennium Falcon in the original Star Wars film.

It is truly uncanny how well it works. And if this has been done before, I apologize. I’ve never seen it written up, so it’s new to me and quite possibly new to some of you as well.

Clearly, Captain Mal Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) is the Han Solo (Harrison Ford) of the bunch. He’s a rogue, a scoundrel, a risk taker, a former government soldier/officer, and just too cool for words.

Zoe Washburne (Gina Torres) is, arguably, Princess Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher). Both are strong willed, fiercely independent, and started as agents for the government before splintering off due to divergent beliefs. Most importantly, both are capable of kicking ass or being sensitive and caring (although the instances of this happening may be rare).

Dr. Simon Tam (Sean Maher) is R2-D2. He is capable of fixing anything (in a medical sense, of course), is highly intelligent, and is always looking out for his sister, River (Summer Glau) much like Artoo does for C-3PO. Also, much like Threepio, River is a highly misunderstood soul who has a history of being tinkered with or experimented on. And both are prone to the occasional breakdown.

If anyone needs justification or questions why I would compare Shepherd Book (Ron Glass) to Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness), then please stop reading now.

The tough one is Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). I think, upon careful consideration, I’d have to compare him to Inara Senna (Morena Baccarin) despite the gender difference. Arguable? Sure. But hear me out. Neither really belong on the ship on which they are most readily seen as both are quite capable pilots in their own right. Both have a personal belief system that doesn't necessarily "mesh" with the rest of their ship's travellers and they are also quite adept at viewing the inner strengths of those around them. The difference lies in that while Inara “services” clients for the right price, Luke could stand to be one of her clients. Desperately.

This is about the time that my screwed-up mind made the realization that Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) kicks some serious intergalactic ass. He’s the only member of the Falcon’s crew from that movie whereas I still have three crew left on the Serenity to account for in this comparison. And, effectively, Chewbacca plays the role of every single one of them all rolled up in one giant, growling, bowcaster-toting furball. He’s the primary pilot of his ship like Wash (Alan Tudyk); he’s the chief mechanic like Kaylee (Jewel Staite), although not nearly as good looking; and he’s the brawn like Jayne (Adam Baldwin). How bad ass does this make Chewie? Let’s just say I think he should be the one to carry the “Bad Ass Mofo” wallet that Jules (Samuel L. Jackson) holds so dear in Pulp Fiction.

What? You were expecting some major philosophical breakthrough? You do realize whose blog you’re reading, right? I leave the philosophizing to the true geeks who constantly push for political recognition of “The Force” as an official religion.

This is just how my mind rolls. It’s Thursday. Gimme a break.

It's a mad world...

Here's a multimedialistic snippet post for you all today involving a bunch of stuff that Katie and I have watched recently.

The Amazing Race
Was anybody else completely let down by the finale? Not by the winners, but just by how horribly anticlimactic the whole thing was? It just seemed to happen and that was it. No excitement. No build up. And it just seemed far too simple... find a sculpture in the East Village, get in a cab, and ride out to upstate New York... oooooohhhh. At least last year's flag raising was exciting to watch.

However, I must say we are both wholeheartedly excited about February's premiere of The Amazing Race: All Stars. Sweet! I hope Uchenna and Joyce are back.

In Theaters
Katie and I saw two movies in theaters this past weekend. The first was The Holiday with Kate Winslet, Jack Black, Cameron Diaz, and Jude Law. Neither of us particularly wanted to see this movie. We went because the FSiL said everyone owed her a girly rom-com. Considering my hatred of Cameron Diaz and Jack Black, I was none too happy about it. But I went because I do like Kate Winslet and have never had anything against Jude Law as an actor (as a person, I want to beat the living snot out of him... who cheats on Sienna Miller with his kids' nanny? Fool).

Honestly, it wasn't terrible. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone, but I didn't want to scratch out my eyeballs, either. Diaz became tolerable after about half a movie spent whining. Black wasn't terrible, either. Winslet was decent. But Law was actually my fave of the film. Plus there was a VERY brief cameo by John Krasinski of The Office fame (yeah, Jim Halpert was in it, folks), which was pretty cool.

To make up for it, Katie and I went to see Casino Royale on Sunday. Considering how much I've been raving about the prospect for greatness of this film, you'd think I would've seen it about three times by now. Alas, I had not seen it. Even both sets of my parents have seen it before I did. Sad.

The film was friggin' spectacular! Yeah, it requires more than a routine level of suspension of disbelief, but don't all action-adventure films? Despite the disbelief, Daniel Craig was fantastic as James Bond. He makes Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Pierce Brosnan look like pussies (I still like Timothy Dalton too much to say Craig was better, and I have yet to see George Lazenby in action... although I do have his one Bond film here at home checked out from Netflix). Seriously. They are just pansy-assed, pathetic excuses for secret agents. Craig got down and dirty, got the crap beaten out of him more harshly than even I expected, and still came back for more. Plus Mads Mikkelson and Eva Green deserve to go down in the annals of Bond fame as some of the better Bond villains and Bond Girls, respectively. And I hope Jeffrey Wright comes back for more in the future.

The reliance on gadgetry as a plot device that has marked previous Bond films was gone. Thank God the film's producers finally got a good Bond, some pretty good writers, and realized that gadgets can only carry a film so far. Okay the script may have been my only complaint... it was a bit long in parts. At two-and-a-half hours, it really could've used some editing.

I can't wait for more, though.

On DVD
We also finally caught up on a couple DVDs we've had out from Netflix for quite some time now. And, to be honest, we could've done without wasting those hours of our lives. Sadly, too, considering I was really looking forward to one of them.

The first, and the one I wanted to see, was Monster House. It was the animated film about three kids investigating a house in the neighborhood that transcends "haunted." To say it was a letdown is understating things a bit. The plot was terribly forced and the characters were way too cliche. And I just don't see this as a movie for young kids despite the marketing. It is a PG film, parents, not G like most animated fare. It is actually a bit more horrific than you might think.

The other film was Accepted with Justin Long as a eight-time college rejection letter recipient. How does he go about regaining his parents' respect? By creating his own fake university. His plan goes awry, though, when others think it's real and show up for orientation. When you watch the first 45 minutes of a movie billed as a comedy and don't even giggle, that's a bad sign. And that's all I've got to say about that.

Check it out now...

Dear NBC,

Over the years, we've had quite the love/hate relationship. On occasion, I've loved you. You've put out some great shows in the past such as Cheers, Seinfeld, Friends, etc. More often than not, though, you've put out complete and utter crap.

Save for a couple standouts, "complete and utter crap" pretty much describes your entire schedule right about now.

I will give you credit where credit's due. You are responsible for sticking by your guns on The Office, which, by most modern network standards, should have been canceled a long time ago. But you waited, and you took into account the fact that it was moving like mad on iTunes. Bravo.

You've also stood by Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip when many other nets would've already killed it. I don't know that I see you guys holding out beyond this season, but at least you're letting them wrap this season up the way it should unlike that poor little kid on Kidnapped. Will he ever be found? I somehow doubt it.

Networks thrive on ratings, that is no secret. If a show doesn't have high ratings, which come from us, the viewers, then you won't get the advertising revenue you so desperately need to survive.

Therein lies the purpose of this letter.

Last night, Katie and I inadvertently allowed ourselves to become pawns in the push for higher ratings. We feel dirty, we feel used. And, yet, it was our fault... somewhat.

We tuned in to the second episode of the new season of Scrubs, which, in all honesty was well below par (both episodes this season have been highly underwhelming). But, it's Scrubs and we're going to give it a chance as it has always made us laugh in the past. We watched it and, because we were so bored by it, we fell asleep in the final few minutes.

Our slumber continued past the half hour dedicated to Scrubs and into the one held by your new crapfest known as 30 Rock. Sadly, it was not 3rd Rock from the Sun. Bummer.

Don't get me wrong, I've traditionally liked both Tina Fey and Tracy Morgan, but this show does nothing for me. I've tried and it just ain't clickin' with me. Is it Jane Krakowski that's turning me off? Perhaps Alec Baldwin? The answer to this question, I do not know. I just know I don't like it.

Due to this fact, I would like to humbly request that you remove one rating tick mark from your tally for last night's episode of 30 Rock. It was an unearned rating boost and one that you really should not want as it represents ill-gained viewership.

Do the right thing, NBC. Give me back my rating.

And what the hell does "30 Rock" mean anyway?

You think she's an open book...

The flames of my passion are being fanned anew.

My library passion, that is.

I just found out today that, as an employee at my new workplace, I am eligible to be part of a reciprocal library loan program at the Naperville Public Library. NPL -- or Nichol's Library -- is not part of the Geneva Public Library's interlibrary loan network, which is quite unfortunate because NPL has a fantastic selection of books, CDs, and DVDs and was just rated either the top or one of the top libraries in the nation.

So I went over there during my lunch break and signed up. Hey, it's me and a library... what'd you expect?

I picked up four CDs after paring my stack down from eight and this was just from going through A-C. God only knows what'll happen as I really start to search. Then I used their self-checkout system, which is pretty swanky, and headed back to my office. Oh, in case you're wondering, I picked up Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Jerry Cantrell, Alex Chilton, and Coheed & Cambria.

But, I found out some pretty cool details about Nichol's from one of their staff members today. For one, they're going to start using RSS feeds on their Web site. I can only imagine this is to notify people of new additions to their collections. Their site also has digital music downloads and eBooks available. And, next year, they're going to start offering up video downloads.

How mind blowing is that? This is a library! I love it.

However, I fear that "my women" (as Katie calls them) at GPL are going to give me a guilt trip or a cold shoulder and accuse me of abandoning them or cheating on them. They know I'm now using Nichol's because the latter had to call the former to make sure I was a user in good standing. The woman who picked up didn't even need to look me up on the computer. She remembered me by name. How sad is that?

I'm a library adulterer. *sniffle*

Been around the world...

I have no single good thing to talk about today, so I figured I'd shoot for some snippets. Been a while anyway.

Holiday decorating
While we did get some more holiday decorating done last night as we watched TV, you could tell there was little to no joy in its execution. I fear we may have overdone it with holiday spirit last year and now we're completely drained. For the most part, we just set up stuff around the house like Katie's beloved Willow Tree nativity scene the pieces of which she's been collecting for a few years now. I started to separate some tree ornaments and break apart the cluster of hooks, but we never hung any of them. We still plan to, we just don't know when.

Wii hunt
Apparently, both Katie and my parents were trying to find me a Nintendo Wii for my birthday. And, as would be expected, neither party had much luck. However, yesterday, I was given Katie's blessing to run out to one of the early sales, this one at Toys 'r' Us, to see if I could score a system.

Yeah... no. I got there about 8 a.m. because the TrU salesperson told her on Friday that they would have them on Sunday and I need only show up an hour before opening. However, people were lining up as early as 6 a.m. and a sympathetic salesperson handed out claim slips to the systems they had in stock at about 7:15 a.m. so they could avoid the cold and wait in their cars. So I missed out.

But I will try again. I may start pulling some of my strings to see what I can do so I don't have to wait in a line again.

Shredded
There are household items that people "kill" on a regular basis. And most people seem to be cursed by consistently killing several of the same thing. For some, it's a cellphone (my FSiL). For others, it could be anything from blenders to power tools to lawnmowers (my dad) to snowblowers (again, my dad) to God only knows what else.

For Katie and me, it seems to be shredders... yeah, the big ol' thing that you use to obliterate important documents. We use it to kill not only old billing statements, but all those damned annoying "you've been approved" credit card applications. And the sheer volume of what we've given our shredders has burned out two of them. The motor burned out on the first, which is wholly understandable. The weird thing is the second one, on which we seemed to have practically liquefied the teeth. Yeah, you read that right, half the metal teeth on this thing are worn down to nubs. But the other half are completely fine. So now, until we get a new one, we have to make sure the sensitive information on the sheet goes down the shredding side of the shredder so it gets chewed up. Annoying.

What do you seem to have bad luck with?

The Amazing Race
They're gone! They're gone! If you watch the Race, you know who I'm referring to. If you don't watch it, no need to worry. And, if you haven't had the opportunity to watch it yet, I haven't ruined anything. But... they're gone! They're gone!

What I want and what I need...

Before I start today's post, I need to wish a happy belated birthday to my brother who turned 28 yesterday. Not that you'll read this, but happy birthday all the same, bro!

I need to make one thing very clear... I am not Idolwild.

Okay, so that was a failed pun of a reference to how I perceive the legions of fans of Fox's American Idol.

I am not, never was, nor likely ever will be a fan of this pop culture "phenomenon."

Oddly, though, I do tend to like some of the music that former contestants have released since being discovered on the show.

For one, I just can't get enough Kelly Clarkson. Sure, her first album wasn't spectacular by any stretch. But I love her new album and, sadly, I never seem able to turn her off when one of her songs comes on the radio.

I found a copy of Ruben Studdard's debut album in the lost and found at the gym one night a couple years ago. Call it warped curiosity, but I took it home and ripped it (I returned it). I've listened to it a couple times so far and it's not bad.

I also recently picked up Carrie Underwood's CD from the library. I've only heard a couple songs off it so far, but it's also pretty decent.

Yesterday, though, I picked up the one Idolite whose album I have most looked forward (yeah, I just admitted to "looking forward to" an album from a former Idol contestant)... Daughtry by cueballed, season five metalhead Chris Daughtry (who has, apparently, shed his first name for professional purposes).

It's a good album. I don't know why, but I really enjoy when he rocks out on songs like "What I Want" featuring Slash on lead guitar. But, he also does well with the slower ballads on the album of which there are a few.

I've only listened through it once so far, but I have high hopes for it as one of those few albums that I can listen to all the way through without a problem. Perhaps I'm setting the bar too high, but one can hope.

Oh, and fear not, there is NO Clay Aiken anywhere near my music collection. I do have some semblance of self respect. Very little, but it's there. I swear.

The pursuit of happiness, it's a common goal...

Some media-related pop culture notes for you...

Damn if last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother featuring Barney's gay brother, James, played by Wayne Brady wasn't LEGEN-wait for it and I hope you're not lactose intolerant-DARY. We love that show and have become hooked on watching the first season DVD set as well as the new episodes. HIMYM and The Office are the only two can't-miss sitcoms this season, IMHO. Nothing else quite compares. Not even My Name is Earl and Two and a Half Men, both of which are pale comparisons of their earlier selves. Actually, in my opinion, 2.5M has been off its game for a couple years now save for last season's ugachaka episode.

I am FINALLY caught up on Veronica Mars after falling three episodes behind. This will all change after a new episode airs tonight. Hopefully, I will not fall this behind again.

This, of course, is not nearly as bad as my delinquency with Heroes. I really thought I was only two episodes behind until I looked at the episode descriptions on IMDb and discovered that I am, in fact, four episodes back; nay, five after the new one aired last night. Something screwed up my TiVo's recording of two earlier episodes in late October/early November and I didn't even know about it. Thankfully, Dave got me on BitTorrent (the Mac client is Xtorrent - and, unlike my earlier forays into torrenting, it actually works) and I've downloaded all five of them, optimized them for my iPod, and I will watch them in the coming week or so.

Sorry Bre, but we have not watched last week's Studio 60 yet. After loving the episode several weeks ago with the blacklisted writer, the two that followed regarding the extradiction of Tom Jeter to Nevada just bored the living crap out of us, so we've been biding our time catching up on the most recent episodes. We will, though. I promise.

Enough about TV. Well, for the most part, that is. While watching a show last night, we saw a preview for the new live-action-mixed-with-talking-real-animals version of Charlotte's Web that is coming out around Christmas. Katie, being the Web freak that she's been her whole life, desperately wants to see it. But she has thrown down the gauntlet for me... I have to read the book before I can see it with her. No, I've never read it. So I grabbed our copy from our bookshelf and started it last night. So far, it's pretty good. I had to put it down after a while because I was just so dang tired (it was 12:30 in the morning!), but I'll finish it soon. And then I'll start Chris Gardner's The Pursuit of Happyness, which is soon being released as a movie starring Will Smith and his son, Jaden.

A grand plan, that's for sure. Especially considering I'm still in the process of reading Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys. It's a spectacular book, but I'm just having trouble finding time to read. That's what I hate about TV season... I fall too far behind on everything else I want to do. Damn.