TiVo Worthy.

Now that the new television season is well underway and shows are already starting to fall to the wayside, Earl and I are making the very important decisions as to what stays on the TiVo and what gets deleted.

First, The Winners.
Heroes (NBC). I love the premise of this show. I like most of the characters in this show. I like the actors that are working on this show. I find the special effects to be quite nice. My only gripe with this show is that it feels like it’s moving at a snail’s pace. I don’t feel “satisfied” after an hour of watching it in the sense that I feel like no progress has been made toward a goal. I understand that I’m suppose to tune in next week to see the next chapter, but the speed in which things are happening is just so slow. We’re already seven episodes into the season and we’re still meeting characters. However, it’s my favorite new show of the season, though I find it terribly frustrating. And Greg Grunberg gets major woof points, as Adrian Pasar does as well, although not as many woof points because his teeth make me nervous. They’re too big or something, they remind me of Dionne Warwick.

Las Vegas (NBC). I don’t see this show lasting but I find it mildly interesting, especially the character of Samantha.

Brothers and Sisters (ABC). I’m glad to see Sally Field, Calista Flockheart and a whole bunch of others in one cast. Earl and I are just discovering this one and are catching up via the TiVo. So far, we’re liking it. I found the scene where the gay brother goes out with the more open gay guy to be quite enjoyable.

Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC). Sports Night and The West Wing meets a new cast in a new situation. Being huge fans of the two aforementioned shows, Earl and I find this show to be engaging and comfortable in it’s style.

The View (ABC). I know, I know, the readers let out an audible groan. Earl and I have never really watched The View as it’s geared towards women and not really our cup of tea. However, we’re both fans of Rosie O’Donnell so we thought we’d add it to the lineup. We both like the banter during “Hot Topics”. Rosie is, well, Rosie, we find Elisabeth to be a little yawn inspiring, we absolutely adore Joy Behar and we think Barbara Walters brings the energy of the show down a little bit. Hey, it takes all sides and all kinds, I guess. We watch “Hot Topics” and skip the rest most of the time.

Medium (NBC). We haven’t missed an episode yet, but it’s being all trendy by holding off until November 15 for it’s season premiere so the jury is still out. Plus, Patricia Arquette seems to have cut her hair and that never bodes well.

Reruns we’re watching
Still Standing (Lifetime). I never saw this show in it’s original run, it seems like an updated version of Roseanne but personally I’m liking it. It hasn’t earned a spot on the TiVo yet but I’ll watch it if I’m working in the kitchen or bedroom and can see the television from where I’m standing.

The TiVo Boot
How I Met Your Mother (CBS). Last year we watched this show religiously and enjoyed it. This year it does absolutely nothing for us. We’re both happy that Neil Patrick Harris is a certified member of the team, but we’re still not going to re-add the show back to the TiVo.

The rest of our TiVo lineup from years past seems to have self destructed.

I’ve Been Upgraded.

After thinking long and hard about this since my last DJ gig, I’ve decided to “upgrade” my DJ moniker. Introducing…

DJ SuperCub

I’ve used DJ PiperCub for the past year or so and have always liked the name but didn’t feel that it was a perfect fit for my personality. So, like my airplane namesake the original Piper J-3 Cub, I’m now considering myself a newer, faster, electrically equipped model now, decked out in all the latest gadgets (like the Piper PA-18 Super Cub), hence I’m now DJ SuperCub.

If you prefer to still refer to me as “Your Highess”, I won’t mind.

Lazy Sunday Afternoons.




Trip Now Complete.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I are back home from our night in Buffalo. The Eagles just trounced all over Washington, so Earl is in good spirits. I’m working on my school projects. Tom is content that his daddies are home.

On our way home we made our traditional stop at a Tom Wahl’s, this time in the Village of Avon. The restaurant is quite large and we were lucky to be two steps ahead of the crowd, as there was quite a crowd when we left.

While Earl drove the next 100 miles or so, I napped in carb-inspired bliss.

Chef’s Restaurant in Buffalo.




Chef’s in Buffalo.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

If you’re in the greater Buffalo, N.Y. area and looking for some awesome Italian food, get yourself over to Chef’s Restaurant.

Earl and I joined our friends Steve and Tim for some great wine, great food and great conversation. It’s been too long since we’ve hung out with these guys, it’s good to get together with them again.

Buffalo, N.Y.




Pre-Dinner Relaxation.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Earl and I are in Buffalo for the night. It’s the monthly bear night at Buddies II, with this month’s theme being “Hard Rock Bears”. It should prove to be an interesting evening.

I mentioned to Earl on the way here that it seems like the weather has pretty much sucked during our last several trips to Buffalo. Last month we arrived in the middle of the crazy October blizzard that dumped two feet of snow on the city and knocked out power and downed trees everywhere.

This time it’s just rain. Lots of rain.

Oh well, we’re looking forward to getting together with our friends Tim and Steve for dinner and then heading out for a fun night on the town. I think I’m going to skip the beer and head straight for the vodka and cranberry. Let’s see how I handle that.

Swing Out Sister.

I have been in such a wonderful mood today. I’ve been dancing around the office at work. I’ve greeted all with a smile. In short, I am happy.

Here, sing along with one of my favorite songs from the 80s.

By the way, I sang backups with a make-shift “band” on this song when I was in college in fall of 1986, before the song was released in the states. I still love singing the “whoo-ooos”, and both Earl and Tom appreciate my efforts whenever I crank this song up.

Words to live by:

Don’t start to ask
And now you’ve found a way to make it last
You’ve got to find a way
Say what you want to say
Breakout

Lay down the law
Shout out for more
Breakout and shout
Day in, day out
Breakout

I was originally going to write about my moderately OCD behavior, with today’s focus being on the comment left on yesterday’s entry about my use of the word Republinzai (link to urban dictionary definition). I spent the morning obsessing about the comment and my response and ended up editing my retort several times.

I then decided that I really don’t give a shit about what other people think. My use of the word was not suggesting that all Republicans are Nazis or whatever; it was referring to ONE hypothetical Republican, that exists solely in the context of one sentence (that was apparently poorly written) who is hypothetically throwing fuel on a hypothetical fire that is being used to burn gays at the stake a la Salem, Mass. several hundred years ago. Lighten up.

I’ve obsessed about what other people think about me for the last 35+ years. I’ve had enough of it. It’s time to Breakout.

Soft Spot.

The photo in this entry by Karl, and another taken from a different angle, have been popping up all over the internet since Tuesday’s election. It’s taken during Senator Rick Santorum’s concession speech, after losing to Pennsylvania’s Bob Casey. It’s a picture of Senator Santorum’s family.

Now Rick Santorum has said and done some vile things, particularly regarding gay folks, including some blather about us doing the nasty with animals or some such other idiotic thing. So at the very least the guy is an idiot that made it way too far up the food chain, but I personally believe he’s just evil.

Be that as it may, I just can’t bring myself to post this picture on my own blog. And it’s because of the youngest child shown in the photo. She’s just way too sad. I can’t take the sight of sad people, especially children. I can’t even take seeing a cartoony sad face. That purple pill commercial where the little bubble with a face is all sad and depressed and is bouncing around looking all forlorn ruins my day, despite the fact that’s he’s happy at the end.

Earl and I have a tradition of rewarding serving staff with a happy face on our credit card receipts at restaurants. This is in addition to, not in place of the gratuity. A number of years ago we stopped at the Viewmont Mall outside of Scranton, Pa. on one of our trips. I believe the restaurant was TGIFriday’s or something like it. The waitress was a mess. None of our food was right (I believe I had ordered baked chicken and got linguini with clam sauce), we didn’t get any drinks, despite repeated requests throughout the meal and the appetizer came out last, with our drinks. That was after waiting for 15 minutes for the server to even get to our table. Still, we tipped her. Very little. I told Earl that perhaps he should hold off on the happy face. She didn’t deserve it. Instead of leaving the space blank, he drew a sad face.

OH. MY. GOD.

I just found that to be so wrong. After a rapid fire stream of hysterical words, I didn’t speak to Earl for the rest of the trip. I couldn’t. I felt bad for the server that had served me clam sauce instead of chicken and withheld my iced tea. She had earned a sad face.

I finally calmed down and I must say that from that experience on I’ve handled the doling out of happy faces when we are dining out.

Back to the Santorums. Now I understand that the little girl in that picture who’s bawling her eyes out is probably going to grow up to be some Republinazi who will gleefully throw fuel on the fire they are using to burn the likes of me. But I don’t want her to be sad. I want her to be happy. There’s always a bright spot to everything, like perhaps she can go to public school now instead of being cyber schooled with her ugly siblings.

Update at 4:42 p.m. Eastern: O.k., maybe I snickered once.

Update at 4:56 p.m. Eastern: I need to just let this go. I really do. Maybe I snickered again and added a snark:
rude.jpg

Good For You Arizona.




Arizona.

Originally uploaded by bluemarvel.

Have I ever mentioned how much I love Arizona? Yesterday the voters of Arizona struck down a constitutional amendment that banned domestic partnerships including civil unions and gay marriage. They’re the first state to do so.

Thank you Arizona for not being cowards.

Tears.

I wasn’t going to say this but I figured what the hell. I’ll admit that when I got up this morning, turned on CNN and saw that the Democrats had gained control of the House and are thisclose to doing the same with the Senate, I got choked up a little bit with happiness. When I saw that Elliott Spitzer, a proponent of gay marriage or civil unions, was elected as the next Governor of New York, I shed a few tears of joy.

The winds of change are here!

Now we should have some realistic checks and balances going on in Washington again. It feels like the insanity cycle is finally coming to an end.