Smallville

Mercifully, I finished watching Smallville recently  The Wife and I really enjoyed the first season, as well as...probably season two and three.  After that, it became pretty repetitive -- main villain of the season, Lana/Chloe in trouble, Clark struggles with his heritage, etc.  The quality just kind of dwindled as the seasons went on.  We watched every episode of seasons 1-8 and then took a break from watching it.  A long break.

I finally put Season 9 in the Netflix queue a month or two ago.  After watching the season premiere, I felt comfortable enough to skip the majority of season 9, which had General Zod as the main antagonist.  I glanced over the episode descriptions on Wikipedia and just wanted to get it over with.

Season 10 went pretty much the same way.  Darkseid was the villain of the season - a far more interesting choice but I just couldn't bear to watch an entire season of the show.  I watched the S10 premiere, one episode 'cause it had Deathstroke in it and then the two hour finale which also felt like a chore.  I have to say, though, the final 5-8 minutes of the show were really well done.  Spoiler alert!  They bring in some of the classic music from the Superman films, and after 218 episodes, Clark finally embraces his human upbringing and Kryptonian heritage and puts on the freakin' Superman outfit.

Looking back on it, I think what wore me out on the show was not only the repetitive plots but it was more the waiting.  We know where the story is going to end up.  Going into it, we know Clark Kent is going to one day throw on a cape and be a hero.  So when he struggles to find a job at the Daily Planet, or his powers are almost taken away by gold kryptonite, we know it doesn't matter.  We still know he will become Superman.  I know this series was meant to be more about the journey but it felt like so many episodes were just filler.

The Colony

I first wrote about a reality TV show called The Colony in 2009.  Thanks to my good friend Netflix, I watched both seasons  I must admit that I skipped around a bit on Season One but watched all of Two  Beware, there will be spoilers ahead!

As I said in my first post, the deck for Season One was incredibly stacked because the cast had a doctor, nurse, aerospace engineer, scientist, etc.  Season One took place at an abandoned warehouse in downtown Los Angeles and for the most part, the colonists did a good job.  They set up a water filtration system, traded goods, had decent security, used solar panels and kept a goat and two chickens.  They got harassed once in a while by "marauders" and they lost one of their own while out on a scavenging mission.  Season One ends with them receiving coordinates to a save haven, finishing their escape vehicle, and driving off down the Los Angeles "river."  Once they are outside and safe, one survivor abandons the group to return because he wants to be there to rebuild his city, Los Angeles.  Quite cheesy but whatever, dude.

Season Two takes place in Chalmette, Louisiana in an abandoned neighborhood/compound area.  There are a few abandoned shops and dwellings they can scavenge for supplies and resources.  They also have a river and bayou nearby.  They did a more diverse job with casting in this one - yes, there are contractors and carpenters, but they're also a model, a logger and an anatomy teacher.  Also, while Season One seemed to go along nicely (for the most part), the colonists in Season Two get their asses handed to them.  Regularly!

There is an rival encampment nearby with about 20-30 people who show up to steal supplies, antagonize and at one point, kidnap someone.  There is a real lack of security given the large area they are living in.  They finally manage to stand up to the intruders and eventually steal some stuff back.  Towards the end of the season, they repair a boat, paddle out onto the bayou and find an abandoned, isolated house where they can live off of the land.  They work towards getting a bigger boat repaired and making their escape away from the invaders.

Everything seems to work out nicely until they show up at the isolated house...well, the previously isolated house and see a bunch of people standing on the dock.  The series just ends right there on a really weird note.  I looked online and saw fans were furious at the vague/unhappy ending but hello!  It's a reality show about surviving after a global outbreak!!  It didn't end all upbeat and happy, but I think it kind of sends the message that, in this situation, there will always be something to fight against.  Yes, a helicopter air dropped some supplies but then the invaders showed up to get some too.  Yes, you found a new place to live but someone else beat you to it.  It will be a constant struggle.

So anyway, there you go.  Season Three is currently casting and I can't wait to see some more post apocalyptic cheese.  Thank you Discover Channel!

Squirrel Seasoning

The Wife has spent some time gathering some lovely plants and making something of a garden on our patio.  The problem is we have squirrels in our complex.  A lot of squirrels.  And these little sons-of-bitches seem to like digging up the potted plants and eating roots and generally making a mess of things.  I looked up some home remedies online to keep the squirrels away and found one suggestion that said to sprinkle chili powder, cumin and/or cinnamon around the plants.  Apparently the squirrels don't like hot spices.  Another suggestion said to boil a mix of onions, jalapeno and habanero peppers into a liquid and watering the plants with that.  I don't want to spend time cooking for these little bastards so I opted to sprinkle the dry spices on the plants.

So I did that and was enjoying watching Game of Thrones with The Wife when I saw movement on the patio.  I darted off the couch and saw a fat squirrel digging up one of the plants.  That fucker!!!  Guess I'll have to try some other solution to get rid of these guys.

It made me wonder, though, if the spices didn't do anything to repel them, perhaps the squirrels are the ones posting "homemade remedies" online so we are seasoning our plants for them.  "Yeah, yeah, we hate it when you sprinkle a little mixture of salt, tarragon, crushed garlic and cumin on your plants."  Munch munch munch.   Those sneaky pricks.

Stolen

I watched a documentary called Stolen last night, which was about the 1990 theft of several paintings from the Gardner Museum in Boston, MA.  I first heard about this heist a few years ago when I came across a book about it.  Sadly, I never got around to reading the book but was excited to see this documentary pop up in our Netflix recommendations.

Sadly, I watched Stolen and was terribly disappointed with it.  It claims to shed some light on this case but instead, it wanders around aimlessly.  Lots of title cards and "artistic" shots that don't make any sense.  And then there's one part where they talk about Girl with the Pearl Earring, a painting which isn't even in the museum, and talk to the author of the book Girl with the Pearl Earring.  Towards the end of the movie, they talk to a security guard about why he took a job at the museum.  I looked at how much time was left at this point and there were like 5 minutes remaining.  It was at this point I realized I'd wasted 84 minutes of my life.  Hopefully I can find that book again because the actual heist and investigation sounds interesting but holy crap, I hope Rebecca Dreyfus has figured out how to make an interesting documentary in the years since.

Bad TV

We were talking about '80s TV shows during lunch at work the other day and I brought up the show Out of This World.  If you're not familiar with the concept, it was a sitcom about a teenage girl who is not only half-alien, but inherited powers from her alien father.  She lives with her human mother in Carmel and can do cool shit like freeze time.  Oh, and she also talks her alien Dad via a glowing diamond in her bedroom.

In this modern age, I can't even imagine a show like this making it to the pitch room.

"Hey, Marcus, whattaya got?"

"Well see, this alien crash landed on earth and fathered a daughter who goes on to..."

"Um, Marcus?"

"Yes?"

"You are aware there are super high quality shows on television these days like Game of Thrones and Breaking Bad, and you're proposing a sitcom about a half alien teenager.  Get out."

I just can't imagine shows like ALF, Small Wonder or My Two Dads getting made these days.  Ah, the '80s.

Trivia side note!  The voice of the father was provided by Burt Reynolds.

Battlestar Galactica

As mentioned in my previous post, we watched the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series.  I was really looking forward to it since I'd heard from a few friends and media sources that it was really good.  The first few episodes were really well done and I thought to myself, "Wow, everything they said was true!"  Then...75 episodes flew by and the show definitely hads its ups and downs.

I started losing interest towards the end of the run but had to hold out to see how it all wrapped up.  As we started the finale, I remember thinking to myself, "Hmm, that would be kinda dumb if the series ended like this" and sadly, that's exactly how the series ended.  Bah, so sadly predictable and anti-climactic!

A while after we finished it, I watched Battlestar Galactica: The Plan which kind of condensed and retold the series from the point of the view of the villains.  I read somewhere that The Plan would make you completely rethink the entire series and put everything in a new light, so I was eager for that.  Instead, The Plan had a ton of rehashed footage (somewhat understandable) but it was so boring and uninspired that it, along with the disappointing finale, tainted my view of the entire series.

So, to sum it up, I eagerly put BSG into the Overrated category.  Give the miniseries and maybe first season a watch and just leave it as a good memory in your mind.

Too Much TV

I decided to take a look back at a previous blog post I'd written about what TV shows I want to watch to see if I've made any progress.  I'm currently on Season 5 of Curb Your Enthusiasm and am enjoying the hell out of that show.  We've plowed through all of the seasons of Dexter, Breaking Bad and 30 Rock that are available to us on Netflix.  All of those are excellent shows, by the way.

I have one season left of Smallville left to watch, of which I cut back the Netflix queue to get only 4 out of the 6 discs.  That show has gone incredibly downhill and I can't wait to finish it off.  I'm tempted to just get the first and last disc and cut out all the rest.  But alas, there's a Booster Gold episode!  How can I pass that up?

I watched the first 2 episodes of Treme and gave up in the middle of the third.  Just couldn't get into it so that one got booted from my list.  Similarly, I tried and gave up on Mad Men and Justice League.

We're 4 episodes in to Game of Thrones and it seems good so far.  The Wife is more into that show than I am at the moment but it's enjoyable.  I also just started Damages and am really loving how that show's storyline jumps around.

I finally finished watching FlashForward and really liked that one.  I wish they'd made more than one season of it but alas.  I think I would have enjoyed it more if I watched it in a shorter amount of time.  Not that the storyline is ultra confusing, I just feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I watched it all in the span of 2 months instead of the 6-8 months it took me to watch it.  We also finished Battlestar Galactica, although I think that one might require a separate blog post.

So, the trimmed down list of shows I need to watch / catch up on looks like this --

The 4400
Action
Damages
Deadwood
Eastbound and Down
Friday Night Lights
Freaks and Geeks
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia
Oz
Rescue Me
Rome
Samurai Jack
The Shield
The Sopranos
Terra Nova
V
The West Wing

The Wire


Ahhhhh!  Too much TV!

Cosmopolitan Parking

I went to Las Vegas a several weeks ago. Sorry I didn't tell you all about it at the time but I don't feel the need to post my location updates or flight information on any means of social communication.

At the close of our weekend there, we drove over to The Cosmopolitan and pulled into the underground parking and I was thrilled to see my invention in use. Okay...so I technically didn't invent this, but I did have this idea several years ago.  I guess the fact that someone else manufactured and sold it proves it wasn't that original to begin with, but I digress!

So.  You pull into the underground parking and look up and you see...lit up signs telling you how many parking spots are available on that level.  Now that's no big deal because they have that at my local mall but what they do have is a sensor above each individual parking spot.  If a car is parked there, it's red.  If nothing is parked there, it's green!  You don't have to drive all over Kansas trying to find the 13 available spots on Level 2.  AND even better - as you navigate your way through the level, it points you in the direction of the available spots.  It took me less than 90 seconds from pulling into the parking structure to finding a spot and parking the car.

Ahhhhh!!!!  So brilliant!  Why can't they do this everywhere?!?!!!!

Congratulations, Cosmopolitan -- you've just claimed the #1 spot on my list of Favorite Parking Structures.

Markup

One interesting thing I've learned from my job is about markup.  Since we have stores nationwide and I am involved in the advertising for those stores, I am sometimes privy to information about how much our products are marked up.  Said information is confidential so any examples I use in this post are purely hypothetical.

Much like Bed Bath & Beyond, my company posts/mails out/advertises a lot of 20% off one item coupons.  I never thought about this before, but I take this to mean that every single product we (and BBB) sell is marked up at least 20%.  So if you pay full price for something, you're probably dumb.  Wait for your coupon.  Use your coupon.  Or at least wait until it goes on sale.  The company will still be making a profit but just not as much profit.

I overheard that one item (hypothetically) we sell for $9.99 is something we actually buy for 70¢.  This means the manufacturer is cranking these out at a factory for probably 20¢.  I understand you have to factor in production costs, shipping, etc. but that is (theoretically) one hell of a mark up on that product.

Like I said, I never really thought about this stuff before I started working for a company with retail stores but it's changed my shopping mindset.  It is incredibly, incredibly rare that I will pay full price for something.  I don't shop for a lot of clothes, but I buy a majority of my clothes from Salvation Army.  If I got to Target or Kohl's, I will head to the clearance racks first and the sale racks second.  If I don't find anything I like then, I probably won't get it.

If I have a gift card, it skews my perception but I still try to follow my rules.  I really want to buy the DVD for Thor since I didn't get it for Christmas.  It's currently $19.99 at Best But and I have quite a few gift cards there.  However, The Avengers film is coming out soon and I'm pretty certain the price for the Thor DVD will go on sale around the time to capitalize on the tie-in so even though I have a gift card, I'm going to wait on it.

I'm sure there are a lot of economic and market factors I don't understand but the thought that kinda blew my mind was that a store sells everything for a profit.  Even if it's on sale or you have a 40% off coupon, they're still gonna profit.

Big Bang Theory

I was in my boss' office the other day when I asked him what he thought of Curb Your Enthusiasm.  He's a huge Seinfeld fan so I figured the two kind of went hand in hand.  He said he hadn't really gotten into it but had really gotten in a show lately, but he didn't want to admit what it was.

I told him if it was Glee, I would admit to it, as well.  He said it wasn't Glee which prompted me to say I was just kidding about liking Glee (even though I do).  He said it was The Big Bang Theory.

Two of my other coworkers are really into Big Bang Theory as well, and one of them has the seasons on DVD.  She let us borrow Season 1 and I am really surprised at how much The Wife and I both enjoy it.  It took me a while to get used to the audience laughter.  After enjoying so many recent comedies without an audience (30 Rock, Louis, The League) it was kinda bizarre to hear a live audience there.

Sheldon is, by far, my favorite character and sadly, the one I relate to the most.  We're somewhere in the middle of Season 2 and I was thrilled to see my improv teacher from a few years ago, John Ross Bowie, show up in two episodes (so far).

Overall, a very enjoyable and funny show.  I believe it's in syndication on TBS but luckily, we've got a hookup from my coworker to keep the episodes coming.

Retirement

For the past three or so years, my Sundays were busy with softball.  I have skipped games because of birthdays, anniversaries, vacations and other reasons but for the majority of the last three years, you could find me on Sunday afternoons pitching slow pitch co-ed softball.

I have enjoyed my time playing immensely but I am retiring soon.  Part of the reason is the drive out there to play.  Part of the reason is to spend more time with The Wife.  Part of the reason is there is a sketch writing class I am eager to sign up for.  But the main reason is simply because I haven't had that many free Sundays.

I found myself enjoying the Sundays without games.  The ones where I got to enjoy a birthday gathering, or a trip to a museum.

So, this Spring season is winding down and we have a chance to make it into the championship game.  We've made it to the championship game twice in my tenure but come up short both times.  Winning this one would be a fantastic way to end it.  I may eventually end up playing one off games here or there when they're short on guys but for the most part, I think I'm ready to move on from my Sunday softball obligations.

Improv Creepio 2

So, that last blog post was written in advance of the last improv class we had taken.  How bizarre it was to have class with Creepio and have the following scenario occur.

He was onstage and we were supposed to ask for some sort of suggestion from the class.  When I was up, I asked them to tell me how my last girlfriend and I broke up.  Another person asked for simply a color as a suggestion.  Creepio asked for someone to name a type of sword.  I've been staring at my screen for ten minutes and I can only name three types of swords (long, broad and hook).  After that, I'm out.  I'm not certain what type of inspiration he would draw for his scene but he finally went with the suggestion of "dagger" - which isn't really a sword, but whatever.

I tried to not rule out his scene too early as he had yet to start it.  There aren't too many places to start with "dagger" but I thought to myself, Maybe this won't be a creepy scene.

His turn came around and he starts by miming the dagger in his hand and saying, "When my stepfather comes home, I'm gonna try to stab him with this dagger."

O.  M.  G.  I could NOT control my laughter at that point.  It's almost become a game in and of itself to see how dark and fucked up he can start a scene.  Luckily I was able to stifle my laughter as tears were running down my face.

And luckily I didn't read about any stabbings in the paper for the next few days after.

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?

Improv Blah

Improv this week was kinda challenging.  We didn't have a lot of time for scenes and for some reason, I tend to wait until the middle, or near end, of the volunteers to go onstage.  I need to get better about being proactive.  So I went up and had a not very good scene with a super nice guy that owns a restaurant in Camarillo.

Earlier in class, the teacher said that a lot of students will ask him, or wonder to themselves, after a scene, "What could I have done to make that better?"  And his answer is "nothing."  The scene is what it is.  Improv is about the moment.  The moment is over so forget about it and move on.  I tried to incorporate that after I walked offstage but it was hard.

Time was running out in class and everyone had gotten at least once scene in, so people were allowed to start going up again.  Once more, I sat out, feeling that this just wasn't my night.  I finally just said to myself "F it" and I went up and did the last scene of the night with my coworker that I carpool with.  I purposely try to avoid doing scenes with him because even though we are friends, I don't want it to seem like we have some master plan to do a bunch of our scenes together.

Luckily, our final scene went well and I ended up leaving the class with a good feeling.  I thanked my coworker on the way home because otherwise, that night would have been (mostly) a waste to me.  Ah, a nearly frustrating evening saved by a 3-minute scene about carving a chair for my scoliosis-laden dad.  Thanks, improv.

Super Bowl

I saw quite a few of my friends on Facebook comment that they are not looking forward to the Patriots/Giants rematch coming up in the Super Bowl.  Some even said the first game between the two of them was boring or that they don't like to see teams re-matched in the big game.

My memory may be little hazy with details but I thought their first go around in the Super Bowl was a good game.  Sure, it wasn't high scoring but what a dramatic finish to that game.  The game ended with a Giants victory which ended the Patriots run at a perfect 19-0 undefeated season.  It was the perfect David and Goliath story in 2008 since the Giants limped in on a wild card, and no one gave them a chance at all to beat the Pats.

And the best part about this year's Super Bowl?  It's the same two coaches from the 2008 game.  The same two quarterbacks from the 2008 game.  You don't think the Patriots want a chance at revenge?  You don't think Eli Manning wants to prove he's one of the best quarterbacks and win one more ring than his older brother?  Plus there's the whole New York / Boston rivalry!  Come on, these are perfect storylines heading into the game!

I'm super excited for this game.  Of course, I'd be more excited if my beloved Saints were in it, but still.  Let's go Super Bowl - get it on!

Gleek?

Against my personal wishes, I have become a fan of Glee.  It started out when I just "happened to be in the room" while The Wife was watching season 1 on Netflix instant.  Then I heard quite a few songs I recognized and halfway paid attention to a few plotlines.  Then I started paying more attention as season 1 went on and it wrapped up.  I thought it was overall just okay, and then season 2 appeared on Netflix instant.

Oh how dare you, Netflix!  I missed a few episodes in season 2 but The Wife watched the whole thing regardless of me being there or not.  And unexpectedly, I'm going back to watch the entire season.  I know this isn't manly of me at all, but it's introduced me to a few good songs.

Some of the stories and songs are cheesy and I have a very hard time believing a 30 year-old is really in high school in Ohio BUT the show is fun.

I admitted I watched this show to some coworkers and this young girl who is...maybe 22 rolled her eyes at me.  But the thing is, this girl's favorite show is American Idol!  A karaoke game reality show!  At least Glee has plotlines, scriptwriters, actors and choreography...okay, maybe I'm getting a little too defensive here.

Enjoy one of my favorite songs/dance numbers I've discovered thanks to this show -

LACMA

Went to check out the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this afternoon and walked away with this lingering thought -- why don't they give out stickers/hand stamps or a wristband with a ticket admission?  Their collection is spread out amongst 8-9 different buildings and each time you have to dig your ticket out of your pocket and show it to the person.  It's a waste of my time and your security's time when they can just look at a sticker or hand stamp.

Other than that, our LACMA adventure was absolutely lovely.