Big Love's Incredible Second Season

Last night's Big Love was toted by HBO as the most dramatic episode ever in the history of everything (!!!!), but it really wasn't.

Not to say it wasn't a great episode, it was. Every episode in this second season has been amazing, supremely interesting and full of exciting things: Barb had en existential crisis early in the season, Nicki has been excommunicated from her family, Margene had a brush of shocking truth with her mom and fell briefly in love with another woman. Bill's oldests, Ben and Sarah, have been going through their own relationship dramas; Ben reveling in sin and Sarah counting the days until she turns 18 and flees to college.

Bill, meanwhile, has been doing his reckless thing (again). Early in the season, he set out to discover who outed his family as polygamists (in last season's dramatic finale) and, failing that, decided to take out his frustration on Roman Grant and his Juniper Creek ruling council, the UEB. Bill pulled all kinds of hijanks to get a Hendrickson seat on the council, first for his brother and then for himself. All that amounted to getting tipped out that Roman was planning to buy a video-poker company called Weeber Gaming. Bill decided he wanted that company for himself.

Meanwhile, back in Juniper Creek, Bill's brother, Joey, spent some time in prison for a crime his wife committed (which set out Roman Grant's son, Albi, on a revenge pilgrimage that continues to threaten Bill and his family). Bill's mother and uncle have schemed to launder over a million dollars from a dying woman.

And then more bad guys showed up. The Greens. Apparently, a fearsome family of polygamists who had previously been at war with Roman and the UEB, then banished to Mexico, now returned to stake a claim, specifically on - you guessed it - Weeber Gaming. Hijinks have since ensued.

(Spoiler warning for last night's episode follows.)

So that brings us to the big episode, "Kingdom Come," which seeks to bring a lot of the disparate storylines of the season to a closing point so the writers can focus in a little more on individual character stories to finish off the season (sadly, only four episodes remain).

Does the episode succeed? Yes. Does the episode surprise? Not really.

Anytime shows - these days anyway - prophesies something "big" and "huge," it usually means a character getting shot. (Thanks Lost). Well, that's exactly what happened.

After a full hour of drama dealing with Ben's soul and in-fighting between the wives and Bill and an off-camera war between Roman Grant and the Greens, Roman is accosted on a streetcorner in front of his favorite diner and shot twice in the chest by two of Hollis Green's wives. It's pretty dramatic, sure, but it was also inevitable. As the season has progressed, Roman has become less and less the "big bad" and more a friendly character so without unteething the beast, he had to die. But the repercussions, especially in regards to Nicki's mental health, will be fascinating to watch.

As for the other storylines, the sex "thing" between Bill and Margene and Nicki was interesting and brought the show back to the first episodes (remember the Viagra?). But the most interesting storyline for me was Ben's. I had trouble buying all that "I'm not ruined!" type talk, I know they're religious and Mormon's, but any teenager growing up in today's world should not be that squeamish when it comes to sex. Don't they watch MTV? Seriously.

What was very interesting was seeing Ben prepare to live "The Principal" at sixteen, proposing marriage and pre-planning for a second wife. It drove home (to Bill and Barb especially) how absurd his life is and the wrongheadedness of some of his decisions.

Anyway, I think I prattled on enough. For anybody who doesn't watch this show, you can see from my rampant discussion of character motivations and subtleties that is a high quality show, extremely well-written, and well worth everyone's time.

Quote

"No one really listens to anyone else, and if you try it for a while you'll see why."
- Mignon McLaughlin

Can You Walk The Walk?

Alesh - finder of great websites - scored again today with the me-friendly site, Walk Score, that calculates the walkability of your neighborhood by using a fancy algorithm to find the nearest restaurants, grocery stores, and parks. My Design District/Edgewater apartment building scored a modest 68, which puts it right below the "True Urban" marker, in that some places are walkable but many still require getting in a car. Which is true.

A quick glance at my old apartment in San Francisco brought up a not-surprising 100 out 100.

How did your neighborhood do?

A Vacation at...Ikea?

Many South Floridians are getting giddy over the "coming soon" Ikea - but did you know that there is an Ikea in Norway where you can extend your shopping overnight and stay in the Ikea hostel for free? They even have a bridal suite! Of course my brain first goes to all the liability issues (how do they keep people from not living there for free?) but I bet those type of problems don't come up. It's Ikea and somehow it's a utopia of cheap furniture and Swedish meatballs.

(Boing Boing)

Quote

"Nothing fixes a thing so intensely in the memory as the wish to forget it."
- Michel de Montaigne

Postsecret Reminder

I use to be like this, but now I just open my mouth whenever I feel like it and say whatever idiotic/unrehearsed thing I feel like. Most of the time.

MMMM...Ice Cream

What your favorite ice cream flavor says about you

Mine:

Rocky road: You tend to be a balanced mixture of charm and practicality. While you are outgoing in social situations, in the business world you tend to be more aggressive and goal-oriented. You are most compatible with other rocky-road fans.

The Strangest Sights On Google Earth

Arizona Loves Oprah

Google Earth has captured some of the strangest sights on the planet - and PC World has spent time putting them together for you.

Quote

"Equations are the devil's sentences."
- Stephen Colbert

Amazing Oscar

Check out this article about a cat that lives in a hospital and can predict a patient's death within a few hours.

Finally!

World's First Flying Car Enters Production

(via Digg)

How To Tell When Alberto Gonzales is Lying

hehehehehehehe!!

Quote

"The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously."
- Henry Kissinger

Places I Would Rather Be Right Now

In Space


In a tub of Cheetos

Playing basketball with the Arcade Fire

Quote

"The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives."
- Louise Hay

Welcome Back...

The ex-Supersized drink is back - and it is now called "Hugo"

Say hello to the 42-ounce drink (with 410 calories) that costs only 89 cents in some cities.

What Did You Say?

Catch phrases are often repeated but rarely make sense. Like, why would we say someone who gets away with a crime got off "scot-free" or how is "painting the town red" equal to bar hopping with your friends?

Check out this list of familiar phrases and their origins...

And just in case you were wondering...

PAINT THE TOWN RED

Meaning: Spend a wild night out, usually involving drinking
Origin: “This colorful term … probably originated on the frontier. In the nineteenth century the section of town where brothels and saloons were located was known as the ‘red light district.’ So a group of lusty cowhands out for a night on the town might very well take it into their heads to make the whole town red.” (From Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins Vol. 3, by William and Mary Morris)

GOT OFF (OR GO) “SCOT-FREE”

Meaning: Escape punishment
Origin: “In the thirteenth century, scot was the word for money you would pay at a tavern for food and drink, or when they passed the hat to pay the entertainer. Later, it came to mean a local tax that paid the sheriff’s expenses. To go scot-free literally meant to be exempted from paying this tax.” (From How Does Olive Oil Lose its Virginity?, by Bruce Tindall and Mark Watson)

Check out more here.

Quote of the Day

Elaine: What do you think a hit man would charge to rub out a couple of cats?

Jerry: Well, it couldn't be too expensive. $13, $14 a cat?

Elaine: You want to make $28?

via wikiquote's extensive Seinfeld page.

Start This Week Right

With some laughs!!!

A little photoshop magic goes a long way! Usually we use it to make people look better - but TMZ uses it to make famous people look real. This is how some famous people would look if they weren't famous.

Paris Hilton
East Lansing Medical Center nurse, Paris Hilton, LPN.

Jessica Simpson
Plattsburgh, NY knitting expert and Dairy Queen employee, Miss Jessica Simpson and her dog, Nick.

Nicole Richie
Three-time Canton, Ohio "Lasagne Bake-Off Champ," Mrs. Nicole Richie-Particelli.

Madonna
Cincinnati church organist at Our Lady of the Rosary, Miss Madonna Ciccone.

Keira Knightley
Massapequa, Long Island Animal rescue worker, Mrs. Keira Knightley and her bird, Barbra Streisand.

Ashlee Simpson
Joe Simpson and daughter Ashlee, Simpson Aluminum Siding Specialists, Family Business of the Year, Cranston, Rhode Island Chamber of Commerce.

Marc Anthony & J-Lo

El Monte, Calif. newlyweds and proprietors of "El Nino Jesus Botanica," Sr. y Sra. Marc Anthony. Felicidades!

Check out more at TMZ.

Quote

"I am a kind of paranoiac in reverse. I suspect people of plotting to make me happy."
- J. D. Salinger

Postsecret

I wish we could all have that confidence...

Check out more at Postsecret.

What Gets You Through The Day?

Most days there is nothing exciting at work that gets me through the day. But my co-workers and I have just come up with a fun new treat that has got us excited and jumping off the walls!

Start with a scoop of ice cream....


And then add that to a shot of espresso...

And don't make any phone calls for the rest of the day because nobody will be able to understand a word coming out of your hyper-active mouth.

Enjoy!

Quote

"Power corrupts. Absolute power is kind of neat."
- John Lehman, Secretary of the Navy, 1981-1987

More Critical Miami Love.

Linksworthy: Alesh geeks out over the new Sun Sentinel website and then he starts talking seriously about newspapers and the future of online news in a wonderful new post at Critical Miami.

Top Chef Revisited

So last night I did a mini-marathon of Top Chef where I watched the past three episode (including last night's new episode).

My first impression of the show was that Hung was a clear front runner for winner. My opinion has changed a bit since then. I still think he has a lot of skill and great technique, but his cockyness is doing him in. He is totally like Santino from Project Runway. He has so much confidence in his work that he dismisses the critiques from the Judges. Really he should be listening and improving his food because that would really take him to the next level. But sadly, I am going to guess that his pride is going to do him in and he will be eliminated in a few episodes.

So who do I like now? I am kinda loving CJ (the tall guy) but that might be just because he is tall. I was also really starting to like Lia, but she was eliminated. I always like the young NY contestant that probably won't win because she is inexperienced (aka Diana from Season 2 of Project Runway).

I am really enjoying the new Howie and Joey bond. Their clashing was annoying but now that they have joined sides I think they make a good match. Howie really impressed me in the Home Cooking episode.

In last night's episode I thought Sara's dish (Jamaican girl from Miami) looked great and everyone seemed to love it. Why wasn't she called into the winner's circle? I think she has great potential and she just needs to be a little more consistent.

And then there is Tre. Tre started strong in this competition but has been hiding out in the middle lately. I think he is going to end strong and end up in the final with Howie and ???? not sure yet.

Quote

"A cult is a religion with no political power."
- Tom Wolfe

Yahoo's Deep Insight Into Men

It is a lifetime struggle that has taken up covers of women's magazines for years and years - What do men think? And Yahoo has figured it out....well sort of. It says a lot that the list only has 11 points. I guess that is all you need to figure guys out.

1. Getting angry at us for not reading your mind is like getting angry at yourself for not being able to fly. It's not just futile, it's physically impossible.

2. Yes, we do think Jessica Alba is hot. Sometimes we're even dumb enough to admit it.

3. Don't ask us to understand your shoe fetish. Asking us to respect it is even sort of pushing it.

4. You do look good without makeup, just not as good as you look with it.

5. Ever notice how we don't fight with our male friends? That's why we get so frustrated when we fight with you.

6. You care what you're wearing infinitely more than we do. In fact, if you're naked when you open the front door, you won't hear an argument from us.

7. You don't like to get hit on in public, you don't want to date online and you don't want to be set up on blind dates. Tell us if sending messenger pigeons is an appropriate way of courting. Because if it is, we're all over it.

8. There should a statute of limitations on stupid things that we said that can come back to haunt us. I propose 24 hours.

9. Cooking dinner for a man is like buying flowers for a woman, except it takes a lot more time, effort and thought for you to do it. Thanks. We appreciate it.

10. We actually like your girly pet-names for us, but please, not in front of the guys!

11. Just because we like looking at the women in Maxim doesn't mean we want to actually converse with the women in Maxim. Not for long, anyway.

12. Your nice guy friends are the most reliable source for telling you if your new boyfriend's a jerk. And he probably is. (By the way, you might want to consider marrying that nice guy who's giving you advice about the jerk.)

Quote

"The saying "Getting there is half the fun" became obsolete with the advent of commercial airlines."
- Henry J. Tillman

News of the Day

Stinky Orchids bring flower lovers to Yosemite

"I was out surveying clovers one afternoon, and I started smelling something. I was like, 'Eew, what's that?'" said Colwell, who works for the U.S. Geological Survey in El Portal. "It smelled like a horse corral on a hot afternoon."

***

Elvis impersonators are not only in Vegas - They are also on Ebay

***

Keep your eyes open for a mid-August meteor shower!

Look Northeast during the evening of August 12th into the early morning hours of August 13th.

Quote

"In case you're worried about what's going to become of the younger generation, it's going to grow up and start worrying about the younger generation."
- Roger Allen

If Cute Overload Isn't Your Thing....

Try Ugly Overload.

Movie Theater Etiquette

Rules of Conduct in a Movie Theater

Please everyone learn the rules. And if you can't, just know these 2 - Shut Up and Shut Off Your Cell Phone!

Cutie!!

My own version of cute overload :)

Quote

"If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you."
- Don Marquis

Postsecret Pick

Alas, it's too late now.

Much more at Postsecret.

"Set Your Phasers to Funky!"

Saturday Entertainment, Flight of the Conchords style:

"Business Time"



"Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros"



"Bowie Song"

Enteraining myself on a slow work day...

Reading about some of my favorite words on wikipedia, I came across this awesome list. The best:

1998 - The Big Lebowski, featuring Jeff Bridges as "The Dude (or His Dudeness, or Duder, or, you know, El Duderino, if the speaker is not into the whole brevity thing"), an aging hippie/beach bum turns "Dude" into a way of life and a philosophy.

Awesomely Bad 90's Russian Music Videos

By the Russian "Weird Al," Sergey Minaev, doing some ridiculous covers of some classic songs and originals (?). This stuff is pure ridicilousness.



Lots more here.

Hat-tip: Matt.

Quote of the Day (okay, it's a long one, but classic)

[In the lab, through a viewport, we see a rectangular metal slab suspended above a squat, boxy metal coil.]

Mike: Oh, yeah. This is when science didn't have to have any specific purpose.

Dr. Meacham: Lowering the cylinder.

Servo [as Meacham]: Inserting the breakfast pastry.

Crow [as Narrator]: [darkly] The secret government Eggo project.

Servo [as Meacham]: Contact Dr. Jemima!

Mike [as Meacham]: God, I love the blueberry ones best.

[Meacham flips a switch. The toaster-like coil starts to red with heat, and we hear a pinging sound.]

Dr. Meacham: Increase the rate of reaction.

Servo [as Meacham]: Start warming the syrup!

Mike [as Meacham]: Yum!

[Cal and Joe play with some knobs and dials. The "toaster" emits loud grinding noises.]

Dr. Meacham: Check rate of radioactive decay.

Crow [as Meacham]: Increase the Flash Gordon noise and put more science stuff around.

. . .

[At the end of the experiment, the toaster object blows up.]

Mike [as Meacham/Morrison]: Oh, my God! My waffle! Oh, the humanity!

[A loud beeping noise follows post-explosion.]

Mike: Fries are up!

- Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (This Island Earth)

Miami Ingestion

Spice Month(s) are coming! During August and September, some of Miami's best restaurants open their doors to those of us without fat wallets, but with high quality appetites. For a mere price of $22 (Lunch) or $35 (Dinner) we can all eat like Dukes and Duchesses.

The list of restaurants is here. If you're looking for me at all during Aug or Sept, check out any of the sushi places on that list. (Speaking of which, be sure to check out Sara Liss's expectational review of Sushi Samba Dromo, a top contender for places I must try.)

Miami in Construction

The ultra-active Boom or Bust: Miami concluded their 3rd Quarter tour of new constructions around Miami this week, the last entry focusing on the the area between Edgewater and downtown.

Some highlights: The Opera Tower (future landmark), The Yorker (love those rounded balconies), Cite (home of my bank), Star Lofts (cool shape!), Ten Museum Park (Oppenheim is King), among others.

Some very impressive buildings and it's real nice to get these updates. I think the editor should upload these to that Google Maps Streetview thing for prosperity and also so he can have links directly to Google Maps for those of us planning sight-seeing tours. But, oh well. I'll take the pretty pictures for now.

Quote of the Day

Bob Steele: That's the worst part about it — she… she dies in a strange place without friends or anybody, and nobody even knows her name.

Crow: She shoulda died at Cheers — then everyone woulda known her name.

- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Untamed Youth)

Lost spinoffy-ness

The LOST blogs are buzzing this week about a new JJ Abrams film, a "mystery" project without even a name (unless 1.18.08 is the name). The trailer debuted with the Transformers movie (sadly, I haven't seen that yet) and HD versions of it are now available online at apple.com/trailers.

The Tail Section has a quick-loading embedded video while the apple trailers look amazing but take some time to download. I don't want to give anything away, the trailer itself has a nice surprise twist at the end.

This thing looks interesting. Although I'm way more excited for this thing.

Oh, I love Giant Squid stories...

And, luckily, there was one today on Yahoo, a story about the widest yet Giant Squid washed up on the shore in Tasmania, Australia. These "once believed to be mythical creatures" are showing up more and more these days, washed up on shores or in the first live video of the creature ever taken in 2006 (a still from the video above).

I'm not entirely sure why I'm so fascinated by these guys, but it might have something to do with this, from the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan:

Quote of the Day

Spacecraft Captain: We are the supreme race! We have the supreme weapons!

Servo [as Captain]: We have the supreme pizzas!

- Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Teenagers from Outer Space)

Live Earth or Dead Earth?

The debate, like something else large and round and under our feet, is getting hot out there over the Al Gore's Live Earth worldwide concert on 7.7.07. The word thrown around the most is "hypocritical," especially of the artists who fly around on jets all over the world to line their pockets (and satisfy music-starved fans like myself), but more so on the event itself and the "carbon footprint" (a term getting more and more use lately) of 9 concerts all over the world promoting green initiatives and cutting carbon emissions - all great goals - but I wonder how much emissions were generated simply lighting one of the stages, not to mention the gas emissions from the cars of the thousands (hundreds of thousands?) of concertgoers who came to see such acts as Duran Duran, The Beastie Boys, Foo Fighters, Bloc Party, Snow Patrol, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Madonna (who apparently rocked London like no one else), etc etc etc etc etc...

Articles:

Live Earth - Was it Any Good?
BBC's Quickie Live Earth Article
MTV News piece, with quickie Al Gore interview.

Quote

I quit therapy because my analyst was trying to help me behind my back.
- Richard Lewis

Oh, if I had the ability to bend time and space...

I would have gone to see an amazing show at the Hollywood Bowl this past weekend featuring The Decemberists with the LA Philharmonic (!!!!), not to mention opening acts Band of Horses and my current obsession, Andrew Bird.

Pitchfork has some pictures to satisfy the sudden sadness I feel. Maybe some mp3's will show up on the internet later today.

Update! P'fork linked to amateur YouTube videographer, capturing the brilliant "Los Angeles, I'm Yours" complete with swirling violins. It's a little noisy in the middle there but still awesome.

The Big Mystery

Why is yawning contagious?

How To Talk To A Real Person

I have been dealing with customer service people A LOT lately. And every time I call I have to go through all those prompts of entering in my phone number, address, social security etc. Most of the time I am just yelling into the phone - LET ME SPEAK TO A REAL PERSON!!!

Finally someone has gone through the trouble of figuring out how to speak to a real person when you call many large company's toll free number.

Check out this list of How To Reach a Real Person Immediately - sometimes it is as easy as pressing zero!

Quote

"Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can: all of them make me laugh."
- W. H. Auden

Postsecret

Postsecret is back - and this week we get a personal message from Frank with an explanation of why the site was silent last week.

Check out more new secrets at Postsecret.

I Have Cold Air!!!!!!!!!

Finally the air conditioning works!!!!

Apparently the person who installed the a/c the first time blew a fuse - and that is why the new system hasn't been working. But now a great mechanic fixed it and we have cold air!!!!

YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!

Quote

"It's a romantic movie. Homer falls in love with a pig."
– The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, talking to Reuters about the upcoming The Simpsons Movie

Kwik-E-Mart

In celebration of the new Simpson's Movie, 7-11's all around the country have been transformed into Kwik-E-Marts.

The Frustrating Truth

It seems that every flight I have taken in the last year was delayed. Most delays lasted at least an hour. I have been delayed other times somewhere between 3 and 6 hours.

And I am not alone. According to this article, more and more planes are delayed. Although, this article says that more than a quarter of all flights are delayed around 15 minutes. You know I must pick the right flights, because I get delayed 99% of the time and it has never been 15 minutes. I don't even consider a 15 minute delay a real delay.

Some serious changes need to happen in the airline industry. The prices of flights go up, the employees of the airlines take pay cuts and the customer continues to wait for their flight. This is a lose-lose situation.

Quote

"It is easier to fight for one's principles than to live up to them."
- Alfred Adler

Happy 4th, Y'all!

Ok I have been watching waaaaaaaaay too much Paula Deen.

Anyway - just wanted to take a moment to say Happy 4th! Go out and celebrate independence. Whatever that means.

And as a tiny update on my homeowner crazyness - just thought I would share that my A/C was installed. But, guess what? It doesn't work. And it has been raining every afternoon/evening here in Miami. You can just guess how muggy it is getting in my condo.

Anyway - the day has been fun. I spent last night at my sister's house and then today with my family. We came home a bit early and are hoping to check out some downtown Miami fireworks.

Enjoy the rest of your day off!!!!

Do You Know This Man?

Say hello to Carlos Slim - the newest person to take the title of "World's Richest Man". This Mexican tycoon made it rich in the cell phone biz. He has just recently beat out Bill Gates for the title by about 8 billion dollars. Now let's hope he follows the role of the other top richest men and share the wealth with needy organizations.

My Favorite Subject

Sleeping is something I enjoy very much. (I think that was an understatement.) It makes me sad to think others can't enjoy sleeping as much as I do. So for all of you lacking sleep - check out these tips on how to never feel tired again.

Quote

"Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment."
- Barry LePatner

Positive News

So it seems lately that most news sites aren't so positive. Here is a great site I just came across

POSITIVE NEWS area of News for the Soul

here are few news articles (even some positive celebrity news)
Rare condors hatch first egg in wild for 18 years
Internet cafe helps homeless renew friendships
Firm sends staff on all-expenses Mediterranean cruise to say thanks
Boy defies doctors by walking
Tomb Raider costume is raising thousands for Unicef
Angelina Jolie orders 2,000 pizzas for African extras
Positive People Website

Fourth of July

Fourth of July is right here and the only thing I want to celebrate is the new Air Conditioning Unit that is being installed in my condo tomorrow. FINALLY!


Oh and guess what - my washing machine finally works right! That only took 2 months and 7 trips from Best Buy.

Anyway, what are your big plans for the 4th?

Quote

"Someone's boring me. I think it's me."
- Dylan Thomas

P.S. - I didn't forget about Postsecret this week. For some reason there was no postsecret update yesterday and I haven't seen one yet today.