Category: Television

1st Intermission

The Oilers have a 1-0 lead over the Panthers after one period. They are dick teasing me. We all know that, right? Ugh.

My stomach played nicely today. Good job, surgically redesigned stomach pouch. Everything was very predictable. My hunger pains hit me right on schedule. Also, I didn’t over eat at the end of the work day and ruin dinner. Good job, Robbie’s little pouch thing.

Want to know what did ruin dinner? Just before 8:00 I had a bite of potato. The roasted potatoes we had tonight tasted AMAZING, but that last bite got stuck. Trigger the foamies. Trigger a little nausea. It’s been an hour and fifteen minutes and it doesn’t seem to have cleared yet. I still feel like that last bite of potato is stuck. I was able to cough some of it up, but clearly not all of it.

Damn it.

Okay. It’s after 9:00. I should be clear to watch the season finale of Doctor Who now. I have a little spit-up cup next to me (TMI), I have a gamecast of the hockey game from NHL.com open, and I need to do something to distract myself from my stomach pouch whatever it is. Doctor Who should do the trick.

Further updates will be provided. Come on, Oilers. Hold that lead, you sick little monkeys.

Another Wednesday

It’s Wednesday. I’m back in the office. You don’t care, but I want to write about something… anything… so here we are.

Today is Juneteenth. I completely forgot. When the state first established today as a holiday we got it off. Less than a year later our company turned most of the non-national holidays into floating holidays so now we don’t get today off. It was just another day for me except that there was no traffic on the highways this morning. From my house to my office, 43 miles, took 46 minutes. Why couldn’t every commute be this easy? While having the day off would have been great, I will take this as the next best thing… sort of.

I failed to get six hours of sleep again last night. My watch tells me I got 5:45 but my heart rate numbers were pretty spectacular. Hopefully that means I won’t be too completely exhausted again today. Just mildly completely exhausted. I still haven’t hooked up my CPAP machine since coming back from Florida a few weeks ago. I think my sleep numbers (assuming my watch pulls accurate data) are implying that using the machine won’t make much of a difference. I should probably use it anyway. Maybe there will be a placebo effect or something and I won’t be quite as tired after a short night’s sleep. I don’t know.

The Oilers won last night. Yippee. Well… that’s being mean. I am glad they won. Not because I expect them to dig out of a three games to none series hole, but because it literally extended the NHL season. If they are going to lose on me and prove that I suck at picking the outcome of NHL playoff series’, then the least they can do is lose in seven games so we get our money’s worth, right?

As for the Red Sox, they have won four in a row including two wins against the first place Yankees. Glorious. I saw a post on social media where someone said that this streak proves they will not only make the playoffs, but advance to the American League Championship Series. I laughed out loud. No, let me be more specific… I laughed out loud for a long, long time. They are four games above .500. They are in third place in the division, 11.5 games behind the first place (and thoroughly evil) Yankees. They are two games out of the wild card. Oh yeah, it is June. Yeah… they are better than I thought they would be, but they are still pretty clearly mediocre. They might sneak into the wild card, but I am not holding my breath. If you’re expecting the Red Sox to do anything better than middle of the pack, then you haven’t been paying attention. No. They will not make it to the ALCS. If they do, I will happily eat my words, but I won’t have to because there’s no chance. This is the way. I have spoken.

I watched last night’s new episode of Star Wars: The Acolyte. There has been so much hate spewed at this show. Most of it rooted in sexism and racism rather than the story or anything to do with it. I’ve enjoyed the show so far and I am looking forward to seeing where it goes. I’m on for the ride, as the saying goes. Last night though… episode four… I finally had something that I didn’t like. What was it? The running time was less than 30 minutes. Come on, Star Wars. We need more than that from our weekly episodes. We need more to sink our teeth into. These episodes should be more like 45-60 minutes, right? We need that content, folks. We need it! Star Wars, babie! Give us more!

This is the way.

I have spoken.

What was I talking about?

293/365
293/365

Doctor Who Fail (Spoilers Ahead)

This post might have some mild spoilers for last night’s episode of Doctor Who titled The Legend of Ruby Sunday.

You have been warned. I will try to keep things as vague as possible but you might be able to put two and two together so if you’re planning to watch the episode and want to go in without any outside influence, now is the time to leave this page.

Okay? You all right with reading this?

Last warning…

Okay.

I failed. Epically. Just… embarassingly.

I watched the episode last night after having binged the full 60 years worth of the show (except for the early episodes that don’t exist anymore. I watched recreations of those but not the actual aired episodes). I enjoyed the whole series from start to finish and thought I was prepared for any call backs or easter eggs or whatever.

Last night they finally revealed who the big bad was for the current season and it included a direct reference to a villain from a series that aired in late 1975…

…and I failed to make the connection! I didn’t remember the story AT ALL. What a loser. What a failure. I am going to have to give back my nerd membership card now, aren’t I. Ugh. I suck at being a fanboy. I just suck out loud.

Now I have to go back to season 13 and rewatch the 4th Doctor serial Pyramids of Mars, and I have to do it before next week’s season finale airs on Friday night.

Jerk. Loser. Nerd-failure.

Day Four

I wrote a post about this yesterday. I am supposed to work from the office two days each week and last week, thanks to a head cold left over from our Florida vacation, I didn’t come into the office at all. That means for the rest of the month of June I would owe two days in the office.

Well… assuming I can survive for the next 3.5 hours or so, I won’t owe any more. Today is the fourth day of the work week, and I’ve been in the office all four days.

I am exhausted.

Prior to the pandemic, four days in the office and one day at home was the norm. Thursday was my one telecommute day each week. The rest of the week I was in the office. It’s not the same office I’m in now, but that’s not important at all. Four days in, one day home. I am pretty sure this week marks the first time since Covid came to call that I will match that schedule. Well… not exactly. Friday will be my work from home day this week. That is not important either.

What is important is that I have made up the two days I missed last week. I am back on track. Next week will only have two days in the office and all will be right with the working world again.

I just can’t get over how tired I am. The commute, the noise, the stress… it’s just wearing me out, man. How did I manage this for 16 years or so before Covid? I can’t wrap my tiny little miniature brain around it.

Tomorrow I will work from home. I have to move back to the basement office because Harry is home and I won’t be able to use the desk in his room. That’s oaky with me. Who knows, maybe if the weather cooperates I might work outside for a while. Maybe I’ll give it a try at least, just to say that I’ve done it.

In other news, my House of the Dragon season one rewatch to prep for Sunday’s premier of season two continues. I’m through six out of ten episodes which is nuts given that I only thought of doing this four nights ago. I’m caught up on Star Wars: The Acolyte and loving it so far. Three episodes in and I am coming up with some crazy theories. I’m ready for part one of the two part season finale of Doctor Who which airs tomorrow night. We still don’t know who the bad guy is. I haven’t a clue. The new season of The Boys is supposed to launch today at some point. I’m not sure exactly when. There will be three episodes released at launch. I am probably going to hold off on them until I get through the last four episodes of HotD. I’m not sure though. We’ll see.

No band practice this week. No band practice next week. After that I am hopeful that we’ll be able to string together a bunch of them and start getting some of the songs back up to speed. Not to mention growing calluses on my finger tips so that playing doesn’t hurt as much. I’m really looking forward to that.

Oh good! One of the guys in my group at work submitted a bug yesterday and someone in the Dev group just picked it up off of the queue. Here’s hoping we get a quick turn around! That would be excellent. I love it when things go according to plan.

Until next time… I am so freakin’ tired!

9/11 Documentaries

Jen and I are sitting in the living room watching 9/11 documentaries.

Why?

I don’t know. It’s like misery porn. Why are we subjecting ourselves to this?

Sure, never forget and all but this is like self abuse. Not that we are shutting it off or anything. Not that we can even look away.

Action Matt Smith

I started prepping for season two of House of the Dragon last night by re-watching season one. I’m watching the very end of episode three as I type this.

I am glad that I watched HotD before I watched all of Doctor Who. I think my feeble little brain would have typecast Matt Smith as a fish chips and custard eating nerd of an 11th Doctor and would therefore have had a tough time seeing him as the action star he is in HotD.

Maybe. Maybe not. I mean, maybe the guy is just really good at his job.

Having said that, I wonder if now knowing Matt Smith as The Doctor will make all the incest in HotD even more difficult to watch than it already was. Probably. If only Amy and Rory could come and save him from it all.

One Period Down

After one period of play in Game Two of the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers have a 1-0 lead over the Panthers.

Finally.

There is zero chance that this game ends 1-0. Come now, Edmonton. Let’s pad that lead in the second period.

I’m not watching the game, as I don’t have cable anymore and don’t know how to stream ABC. Instead I’m following the gamecast in a browser window while starting to re-watch season one of House of the Dragon because season two starts on Sunday. Gots to get ready for some Game of Thrones Prequel style carnage, am I right?

Let’s go Oilers!

Failure to Stick the Landing

The Great X-Files Rewatch Adventure has reached an important moment. Season nine episode 19. The first half of what was expected to be the series finale. Let’s ignore for the moment that they made a second movie a few years later, and then added two new seasons many years later. This was supposed to be it. A two part series finale.

And it was not good.

I mean, I remember it being okay but not nearly good enough. They had a chance to end it with a bang but instead they just failed to stick the landing. They failed to give the show the send off it deserved.

Now, in 2024, let’s see if it was as meh as I remember it. After that, I’ll watch the second movie for the first time since Jen and I saw it in the theater in 2008 (I think).

Spoiler Free Review of Last Night’s Doctor Who

A new episode of Doctor Who, entitled Rogue, was released last night on Disney+ (for those of us in the ol’ U.S.of.A.) and as soon as I finished watching it I posted something on Threads about it. Something like a very short spoiler free review. Allow me to share an excerpt:

…that popping sound you’re hearing? That’s the sound of homophobic brains exploding, all over the world.

heh heh heh

Sorry. I just find bigotry to be so ridiculous that I have to make fun of it when I can.

Also, Doctor Who may suffer from the most toxic fan base in the entire entertainment industry. I used to think Star Trek fans were bad, then Star Wars came back and the toxicity made Star Trek look like cute cuddly kitties. Then I started watching Doctor Who and the level of toxicity spewing from the show’s “fans” made Star Wars look like a picnic in the park on a sunny summer’s day.

I am not going to say that I am looking forward to the hate vomit that this week’s episode is sure to produce, but I am looking forward to being able to use the response to the episode to block a whole ton of scumbags on social media. That’s what I call a bright side!

The Acolyte Episodes 1 and 2 Mini-Review

It’s always a good day when there is new Star Wars content to devour. Am I right, or am I right?

Being sick in the springtime absolutely sucks, and last night I went from feeling like I might be getting better to feeling like I was definitely getting worse. I was exhausted after a long and stressful afternoon at work and when I tried to watch the two new episodes of the new show I found myself nodding off. That is not a review of the quality of the episodes, but a comment on the poor quality of my brain last night.

I made it through the first episode and about half of the second when I gave up and went to sleep. This morning while doing my morning exercise silliness I started over and watched both episodes all the way through.

My spoiler free review is that I am intrigued. I like it so far. I am looking forward to seeing what comes next. Is the dude with the red lightsaber a Sith or is he something else? Who is he? We haven’t even seen his face yet (and we saw him in the trailer so his existence is not a spoiler). Also, what did the victims of the crimes being investigated do to earn what they’ve gotten? What’s the back story? They gave us a tiny bit of motivation but there has to be a lot more.

I’m really looking forward to seeing more of this show. I needs to know what’s going on, and I needs to see some lightsaber fighting. Use the Force, folks!

I like that we’re seeing a period in Star Wars history that we’ve never touched on before. We saw the Jedi and the Republic in the prequels, but the wheels were already coming off the wagon by the time those stories start. This new show takes place about a century earlier, when the Jedi were at the top of their game and the Republic wasn’t a political mess yet. I want to see more.

Okay this part is going to get a little spoilery, so if you are being cautious about such things and haven’t watched the first two episodes yet you might want to stop reading now.

I will be as vague as I can, but there will be spoilers after this point.

You have been warned.

My one issue is not with the show, it’s with the fandom. I have watched some youtube videos and listened to some podcasts in prep for this. There is a book series and some comics and some other extended universe things dealing with the High Republic period, and many of the preview things I read/saw/listened to reference those stories extensively. One common thread was how the Jedi were different than they were in the prequels, and many referenced characters that we knew were crossing from books to the show.

One frequent comment from one youtube source kept harping on how the Jedi aren’t as hung up on attachments being bad during this period. Then in the first episode there were 3-4 moments when one Jedi says to another, what’s up with you being so attached to this person/place/thing. Don’t you know that’s bad and will lead to problems? Heh. I guess they are has hung up on attachments after all, eh? Another talked about how one character was this amazing warrior and how we were all going to love getting to see that character do some kick ass Jedi-Fu and how awesome it would be… then six minutes into episode one that character is gone. HA! I guess we won’t be getting much excitement watching that particular Jedi kick ass, eh?

My point being is that expectations are silly. It’s a new show, a new time period, and I don’t care how many novels or comics you’ve read, it’s a new setting and new characters. Unfortunately there will now be a significant chunk of what is already a super toxic, asshole fanbase who are going to HATE this show because it isn’t exactly what they expected after reading the books. That sucks, but we all know it’s going to happen. My hope is that I can avoid such negativity and just enjoy the show for what it is. Something 100% brand spanking new.

Can’t wait to get episode three next week. Bring it on, Disney+.