Improv Creepio

Not sure if there's someone we're supposed to report this to but I swear to God, there's one person I've noticed over the weeks at improv class who starts 99.99% of their scenes in a dark manner.  A really dark manner.  One scene I had started out in a graveyard.  Another started with the hammering of a stake into a vampire's heart.  My coworker and I have noticed this trend over a few weeks and aren't really sure what to make of it.  Either way, I'll refer to them from now on as Creepio.

Personal Trainer/Player

So they hired a bunch of new personal trainers at the gym I go to. Each one has a photo/bio sheet to help you pick one although it's debatable how much a name, a degree and a list of hobbies tells you about someone who's going to show you how to do calf raises properly.

I digress.

One of the new guys lists his interests as: Surfing! (NOTE: I am adding exclamation points as a machismo effect) Rock climbing! Snow boarding! Mountain biking! Candlelight dinners! Wait...what? One of these things is not like the other. I'm just curious if Rocko is really into candlelight dinners or if he's just trying to get laid.

What's also curious is another new trainer has an incredibly similar list but his last item is "chasing sunsets."

Curb Your Jail Sentence

Another great thing about the show Curb Your Enthusiasm?  It cleared a man of murder charges back in 2004.  Yep, a dude spent 5-1/2 months in jail being accused of a murder but swore he was at the Dodgers game that night.  HBO was there filming an episode of CYE and had footage of the man in the background, which proved his alibi and cleared him of any wrongdoing.

Larry David

I started getting into Curb Your Enthusiasm again, picking up with season 2. I swear I don't think I'm this bad but -- I could be looking into my future when I see the Larry David character. Sadly this show doesn't appeal to The Wife so she'll have to be surprised at how curmudgeonly I (may) get.

The episode that sparked this idea was one in which Larry and his wife decide to go out to dinner. His wife suggests they go to a bar at a hotel first for a drink. Larry questions this, asking if they have some special drink at this bar (they don't) and why his wife can't just order whatever drink she wants at the restaurant. After all, he reasons, it's the same drink. He doesn't want to drive to one place, park/valet, get out, have a drink, leave and then go park/valet at the restaurant.

It was at this point I could envision 45-year old Chris saying something like this to The Wife who, amazingly enough, hasn't left him yet. Larry's reasoning seems sound enough and there certainly is a hassle in going to two places.

Larry's wife explains it's not about having a drink, it's about the socializing and the atmosphere of the different places, and just going out. Larry still doesn't get it, she gets frustrated and they end up ordering take out.

So thank you Larry David for saving me from a potential argument in the future. Even if I do see your viewpoint on a lot of the nitpicky things.

Fables

A comic book I have really gotten into lately is called Fables.  It was recommended on a podcast.  I reserved the first two graphic novels from my local library to try it out and ended up loving them, so it went on my Christmas list and I just finished the 5th trade paperback collection.

Fables is similar in concept to the current ABC series Once Upon a Time -- fairy tale characters in the real world, although the comic predates it by at least 9 years.  The TV producers have said they feel the show may have a similar starting point but branches off into very different directions.  I haven't seen the show but I'll take their word on it.

The characters in the comic have had their lands conquered by someone known only as The Adversary.  (I haven't come across who exactly The Adversary is, although I spoiled it for myself online by trying to get a general sense of the series.  Bah!)  So, the characters escape to New York City and set up their community called Fabletown.  The normal looking characters (Snow White, Boy Blue, Prince Charming, Jack of Beanstalk fame) live in Fabletown but try to avoid any and all interaction with the "mundys" - the mundane, human people.  The animal type characters (Three Little Pigs, Chicken Little) all live upstate on a farm.

Snow White is the Deputy Major and Sheriff Bigby Wolf (aka the Big Bad Wolf), so much of the series follows their exploits as they investigate the murder of Snow White's sister Rose Red, deal with an animal revolt up at The Farm, get invaded by some of The Adversary's forces, seen a mayoral campaign race between Old King Cole and Prince Charming and had a human nearly uncover the secrets of Fabletown.  And there's also a...very interesting pregnancy/childbirth between two odd characters in the mix.  Prince Charming is an asshole who's been divorced three times.  Bluebeard is an arrogant prick bent on becoming insanely wealthy.  Jack is constantly trying to swindle goods from others.  And Sheriff Bigby Wolf has a plethora of secrets he's keeping from everyone.

I really like that you're already familiar with most of these characters.  It's not like, hey, look it's this new superhero in town and here's what they can do.  It's like, hey, it's Cinderella.  Got it.  I also like that all of these characters are immortal so there's no real timeline to stick to.  I'll definitely put a few more of the trade paperbacks on my birthday list 'cause this has been a really interesting series so far.  Can't wait to see how the whole Adversary thing is revealed, too!

No Thank You!

Like a lot of people, I play the game Words With Friends on smart phone. I am too cheap to spend 99¢ on the full version so I get advertisements after I make a move. Occasionally I get this one --

I guess this is some sort of flirting/dating app?  I am a happily married man but seriously, who is this supposed to appeal to?  I honestly can't tell if this is a man or a woman.  Who sees this 12-year old Eskimo boy (?) and thinks, YES, I want to flirt with that!

I regrettingly ended up spending the dollar to upgrade my version of the app because Eskimo boy (?) disturbs me too much.

Podcast Overload

I think I may be "over" listening to podcasts.  There were some days at work when I'd have 4 or 5 different podcast shows to catch up, each with multiple episodes.  I wouldn't get to listen to any music and at the end of the day, I would find myself not remembering anything significant about the podcasts.  So if none of these podcasts were making any impression on me whatsover, why was I spending so much time listening to them?  Plus I get pulled away from my desk a lot so it's hard to listen to a continuous conversation.

I started cutting back on my subscription list by axeing I Want Wrestling, Kevin & Bean Show, Mohr Stories and even my beloved Walking the Room.  Sorry, guys.  Even a weekly podcast seems so disposable when you realize you can't remember what they talked about last week.  The only one I listen to daily is Adam Carolla, and I am still subscribed to The Art of Wrestling and the B.S. Report but I will only listen to those if the topic/guest seems entertaining.

At least I have a lot more time to listen to music.

Is anyone out there listening to any podcasts, or multiple podcasts, with regularity?