Politics and Christianity

An interesting article in the NY Times about a pastor in Minnesota.
Read it here.

Ben Ball on McSweeneys!!

My friend Ben submitted a piece to McSweeneys.net and I'm happy to tell you, it's now online!
Check it out here

Where's Dwight??

This is why I don't put much stock in the Emmys.
Look at the ridiculous supporting actor (comedy series) nominees this year:

Arrested Development - Will Arnett as Gob Bluth
Entourage - Jeremy Piven as Ari Gold
Malcolm In The Middle - Bryan Cranston as Hal
Will & Grace - Sean Hayes as Jack
Two And A Half Men - Jon Cryer as Alan Harper


Where's Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute in The Office?
Where's Ethan Suplee as Randy Hickey in My Name is Earl?
The only nominees in the category that make any sense at all are Will Arnett and Jeremy Piven.

You want a third suggestion to round out the category? Give it to the widely over-looked Michael Cera, who subtly held his own comedically in an amazing cast as dutiful son George Michael Bluth on Arrested Development.

They did get one thing right though. Jaime Pressly MUST win for playing Joy in My Name is Earl. Every role she's ever played has been a sub-par version of this character and she finally got a job where the writing equals her comedic talent and it's comedy gold.

Ash Valley

I wanna let you know about a new band called Ash Valley. The record should be out soon. You can listen to a few tracks on their MySpace page. Let 'em feel the love, people.

Hustle

If you're not watching the BBC program Hustle on AMC, give it a try. It's a show about a group of con artists in London starring Adrian Lester and Robert Vaughn. We're half-way through the six-episode season in the U.S. and it's a lot of fun. Of course, the season's already finished across the pond, so if you just can't wait to see what happens, you can read about upcoming episodes here on the BBC site.

TiVo's iPod support

TiVo recently introduced an updated version of their desktop software which allows a networked TiVo to transfer its recordings to a PC and automatically convert them for playback on an iPod. Great, right? Yes. After a week of testing this feature, I can confirm that it is great. The video quality is good, it syncs up perfectly with the audio (a problem I've had with freeware transfers), and it's easy to get the newly transferred files onto the iPod. The show name and episode name are carried over from the TiVo's information making for easy organization.

What's NOT great is that I had to pay about $25 extra to use it. It seems the feature is built into the upgraded software, you just have to purchase a license to unlock it.

BUT...that gripe aside, it works very well and I think it's worth the extra cash. Now I can watch Austin City Limits and even uncut, commercial free films from TCM on the bus on the way to work.

Found this guy in the sewer...

 















Never thought I'd hold a gator. Wild. 

Daily Show segment on NJ service stations

One of the strangest laws I've encountered is the New Jersey law outlawing self-service at the pump. Every service station in the state is full service. I know people from New Jersey who don't know how to pump gas. Since moving here, I've nearly driven my wife mad with my rants about the absurdity of the law and I'm glad Ed Helms at the Daily Show had the guts to take this issue head on.

What's a Funny Word?

For some reason, we started doing the scene from When Harry Met Sally when Meg Ryan repeats after Billy Crystal "waiter, there is too much paprika on my poppykosh". Well, Matthew thought the word paprika was very funny so we did this video.

Superman Returns...and so do Transformers

I saw Superman Returns over the weekend and enjoyed it thoroughly. So much better than X-Men 3. I'm glad Singer abandoned ship for this one. And to think it was shot digitally. Anyone who believes you just can't get a "film" out of DV will be rethinking everything after this. Stephen, I think it's time.

The new tease for Transformers was posted recently. Michael Bay's directing. His previous film, The Island was one twenty minute chase scene too long for my taste. I'm not quite sure what to think yet. I saw some supposed test footage of a transformation on YouTube and it's intriguing. The teaser, however, leaves much to be desired.