Private Practice.

Amy Brenneman.

If you’ve followed the blog for a while or seen my populated ‘list of quirks’, you’ll know that I am quite bitter about CBS’ cancellation of “Judging Amy” a couple of years ago. There are many reasons for my bitterness in which I won’t bore you with the details (you can read old entries here, here and here) but one of the main reasons for my angst is that Amy Brenneman is one of the few women on the face of the earth that can turn my head. She’s my Elizabeth Montgomery of today’s times.

Enter “Private Practice”.

A spin off of the popular “Grey’s Anatomy”, which I’ve never watched in my life, “Private Practice” follows the story of one of the more popular characters from “Grey’s Anatomy” and spins her into a co-op type medical practice in L.A. The cast is quite impressive, as it includes Kate Walsh, Audra McDonald, Taye Diggs, Tim Daly and Amy Brenneman, among others.

I haven’t really been excited about this new television season. Our TiVo has been whittled down to “Heroes” and “Las Vegas”. There’s nothing else that has really captured my attention (except for a SciFi remake that I REFUSE to watch and urge any and all to boycott for a number of reasons) but Earl saw that Amy was on a new show so he added it to the To Do list on the TiVo.

He’s such a good man.

The first episode of “Private Practice” had a lot to do. It integrated an established character for a popular drama into a bunch of new characters, it had to establish backgrounds for these new characters, it had to set a vibe and it had to bang us over the head with it’s intended premise.

It did all these things well. There were a few over-the-top moments, but hey, people expect that and it’s a cut throat industry now – big ratings immediately or down the toilet you go.

“Private Practice” has earned a spot in our TiVo to do list. And once again Amy graces our screen.

All is right with the world.

27 September 2007 by Everyone's A Critic. 0

Daydream Believer.

Devil’s Tower.

I am just returning from my first exam of the semester in Surveying. I think I did o.k. I know I didn’t ace it, but I think I at least got a decent grade. I found a couple of the questions frustrating because the professor scratched out a question and then handwrote a different question next to it that was crammed in a small space and didn’t really make sense to me.

Oy vey. Whatever.

Because of my exam experience I am kicking into daydream mode. Earl and I have quite a bit of travel ahead of us, for example we’re going to Ireland for a week in October. I’m really looking forward to the trip, as Earl’s stepbrother Rick and his girlfriend Helen are getting married on the cliffs. They witnessed our commitment ceremony back in 1996 so they asked us to come to Ireland and witness their marriage. The trip involves an educational shuffle but this sort of thing comes once in a lifetime so it’s well worth the song and dance I’m doing with the professors.

If a trip to Ireland (as well as a few upcoming weekend excursions) wasn’t enough, I’m already thinking about next summer. We’ve made camping plans for Memorial Day at Southwick Beach, we were lucky to get the “supersite” right on the beach! Plus, we’ve been tossing around ideas for a trip for my 40th birthday next July. There’s been rumblings of an Alaskan cruise and that is certainly an exciting option. However, I want to drive across the country again but Earl isn’t really interested in doing that. I want to visit our friends in Cheyenne, I want to drive around Area 51 again, and I want to hear, see and feel the serenity of the Arizona desert. I told him I’d meet him in Las Vegas – he can fly and I’ll drive the Jeep. People ask me, “why on earth would you drive across the country for a week when you can fly in a day?” Well, words can not describe the peace, the excitement and the sense of adventure I feel when I drive across the country. It’s as simple as that. I’m never at a loss for words, but I honestly can not describe the happiness I feel during the adventure of a road trip.

It’s as simple as that.

26 September 2007 by Spiritual Stuff. 7

Health.

I’ve mentioned before that I am currently enrolled in a health class to get my required physical education credit. Many see this course as the lazy way of meeting the requirement but I am surprisingly getting a lot out of the course. I don’t know if it’s guilt or what but I’ve stepped up workout routine considerably since enrolling and I’m feeling better for it. In fact, I’m in jeans that I couldn’t fit into in August. This makes me happy.

On Thursday we had an exam covering everything we’ve discussed thus far. As I mentioned before, the class is seemingly populated with slackers and before returning our exams to us, the professor mentioned that these were the poorest results he’s ever encountered in teaching this class for the past 30 years. Coming out of the class on Thursday, I wasn’t confident of my performance on this exam. So when the professor wrote the grades up on the board “80+, 3”, “70-80, 6”, “60-70, 10”, etc., I ballparked myself as one of the six and maybe one of the ten. Surprisingly it turns out that I was one of the “three”. Not my most stellar exam grade but I’m pleased.

It’s amazing the amount of practical information that is being taught in this course. Smoking leads to lung cancer. McFood is bad for you. Exercise helps you maintain a healthier body. While I’m starting to cheer on the younger generation a little bit, because I’m finding that many professors really don’t give a crap about the students they are teaching, I can not for the life of me figure out why teenagers are picking up smoking. With all the undeniable evidence out in the wild, there is absolutely no reason that any person with any sort of common sense would start smoking in this day and age. I just don’t get it.

Anyways, one of the topics that came up in the discussion today sort of surprised me. Many of the younger students believe that there are cures (or we are really close to a cure) for many of the incurable diseases: diabetes, cancer, AIDS, etc., and the U.S. government is surpressing these cures (or really close attempts) in order to keep the pharmacutical companies alive. They reason that it’s all about big business these days and why should we come up with a cure that would knock out all this big money? Now, I’ll admit that I proudly wear my tin-foil hat, especially with Bush Lite and his cast of idiots populating Washington, but that’s one point of view that I’ve never considered. I think this discussion is indicative of a lot of things. First of all, with this up and coming generation I see big changes on the horizon. It might take two or three decades, but I feel like there’s some sort of light at the tunnel when it comes to this mess our country is in. Secondly, I found myself agreeing with my classmates. I’ve never been one for taking medication. Hell, I don’t go to the doctor unless something impedes my appearance (being vain and all) or messes with my sexuality (being a man and all). I don’t know if their theory goes to the extent in which they proposed by why would big business want to cure a disease when they can make a ton of money just treating it? But you know what, this group of slackers brought up an interesting point that made me think, and add another bit of Reynolds Wrap to my hat.

25 September 2007 by Ponderings and Musings 3

Curiosity.

Sometimes I sit and wonder what the world is going to be like in 30 years. I don’t know why I get all pensive about this sort of thing and I don’t know why I try to look 30 years into the future, but there are times when Professor Frightful is talking to his chalk and my mind starts to wander in math class. And these are the things I ponder.

For one thing, in 30 years I’ll be approaching 70 years old. I have no doubt in my mind that my folks will still be alive, they’re both wired that way. I wonder if the flying cars that we were suppose to have by the year 2000 will be here in the year 2037. Will I still be using my PowerBook?

Earl and I will be celebrating 41 years in 2037. If the history of my family is any indication and I follow their lead, we’ll still be traveling and exploring. What does one buy for their lover on their 41st anniversary?

Whatever the future holds, it sure looks bright to me.

24 September 2007 by Ponderings and Musings 2

Familiar!

So Earl was looking around on one of the bear sites when he saw a new user from London that looked quite familiar:

Copycat

This is tempting me to fall off the grid.

24 September 2007 by Let's All Rant. 6

Second Season.

And tonight brings us the new season of “Heroes”. By all that is practical, I am begging the universe to make Nikki as un-annoying as possible.

24 September 2007 by Geek 0

Sunday Night Internet Cafe Stop.

Earl and I are at the local Panera, having a little bite to eat and doing to Mac surfing in public. It seems like a fitting way to wrap up the weekend, as it’s seemingly been all about relaxation, being in public and eating.

Last night was Bear Night in Albany and it was rather enjoyable. I liked seeing our friends from the Capital District and meeting new folks as well, but the club was JAMMED packed with people. The “Bear Den”, which is in the basement of the club, has a typical cellar low-ceiling and little to no ventilation. While I find the smell of a “natural man” quite intoxicating, sometimes a cub needs a breath of fresh air. So Earl and I had a hot and sweaty time and we weren’t even doing anything leud. Well, nothing out of the ordinary.

On the main floor of the club is good-sized dance floor. It was somewhat cooler up on that floor, but still relatively hot. The DJ was playing great music last night, at least from what we heard. He had this habit of mixing in the middle of a musical phrase, for example halfway through a verse of in the middle of the chorus. The boys would be jamming to “How Will I Know” by Whitney Houston and before one could find out if he really loves me (or yell “Bobby!”) we were suddenly in the midst of Conga, which was then promptly interrupted by Bad Girls. Before we were bad, bad girls, we were then into some cha-cha song. It was then that I gave up on trying to dance for the night.

Even though the clubs in that part of the state are open until 4 a.m., Earl and I decided to call it a night and head back to Motel 6 around 1:30. They left the light on for us. I went straight to bed, as apparently I’m getting old or something, but Earl roamed the motel looking for the afterhours party. He came back to the room about half of an hour later, so assumedly there wasn’t much going on.

This morning I sent a text message to Sean and Jeffrey to see if we could get together for breakfast. Jeffrey was still in bed, but Sean and his friend Andrew were on their way to the Gateway Diner and they invited us to join them. What a lovely breakfast. It was good to relax and just hang with friends this morning, so it made the whole Albany experience worthwhile.

This afternoon, I decided to get a little exercise (see previous entry) and then attempted to mow the lawn, where I promptly lost interest and decided I’d finish tomorrow. So now we’re here at Panera. Homework awaits before bedtime.

And there’s the life of two bears on a weekend in the middle of September.

23 September 2007 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Social Whirlwind.

The social whirlwind continues, as Earl and I have installed ourselves in the capital city of Albany, New York. We started with a diner-iffic lunch at the Metro 20 diner and then stopped at the behemoth Crossgates Mall for an obligatory Apple store excursion. I really wanted a case for the new iPhone, so I picked up a rubber case made by InCase. I’m loving it.

Tonight is bear night and Earl and I will be hanging out with friends and growling and woofing in various directions. It’s always a good time.

22 September 2007 by Fun and Games Dept 0

Kathy Griffin!



Kathy Griffin!
Originally uploaded by iMachias.

So get this. Tonight Earl and I went to our local casino to see one of the two sold out shows of the one and only Kathy Griffin!

She was fucking hilarious!

Kathy has been in the news quite a bit lately, mostly due to her acceptance speech at the Emmys (she told Jesus to ‘suck it’ and this offended some), so she had LOTS to talk about tonight.

Earl and I had a blast!! It was our first time seeing a show at the local casino and I must say it was a pleasant experience. The seating was comfortable, the audience was pumped and Kathy rocked the house. We tried stalking the backstage door but she disappeared through the catacombs so we didn’t get a chance to meet her afterwards. But that’s o.k. because we had an absolutely great time. Earl and I have seen several stand up comedians over the years, by far tonight’s show is our favorite.

22 September 2007 by Flickr 2

About J.P.

Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.

Weird? Eccentric!

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