Non-Spontaneous Combustion

Can you say: burning out?

This week has been nuts, and all I want to do is take a day, never get out of bed, and forget all about copying, collating, moving boxes, and printer problems.

This assignment is my freakin' life lately, and I honestly don't know how people do it full-time.

But speaking of full-time, the job-search continues, and the never-ending, desperate visits to various job websites, perusing the UTA job list, and trying to think of any potential contacts ... well, like I said, it never seems to end ... and yet little progress has been made.

Worse, I get home to my apartment today and it smells like burnt rubber or something. The bathroom light is out, I think that may have something to do with it.

Oh yeah, it was really cold and windy today, at least by LA standards. Almost felt like Boston for a bit. Okay, it wasn't quite THAT bad.

Oh man, as I type this the Lakers-Kings game is in overtime and what a game it is! Brad Miller of all people with a three to send the Kings into overtime! Been a while since I've seen a great NBA game with this type of big-time feel (even if both teams are a shadow of their former, grater selves from a few years back).

TV STUFF:

LOST:

Lost sucks. Yesterday's episode was complete B.S., and was just totally emblematic of everything that has been weighing down the show this season. I still feel that Lost has the best premise of any show on the air, possibly the best cast, and some of the best established characters in recent TV history. But over the course of this season, the PLOTTING has been utter crap. And even though the Lost apologists claim that this is a show about characters, it was set up from the beginning to be a plot-driven show. The early mysteries posed by the show - what is the Monster? What's with the island? Who are the Others? - all of these were posed with a clear implication that the plot would be advanced and these mysteries addressed. This wasn't set up like a David Lynch movie or something where it's all about interpretation and deliberate vaguness. The show SEEMS to want to reveal the answers to it's mysteries - but just comes up limping when it should be having it's big moments. Look at this week's ep - finally, we get the big confrontation between our heroes and The Others. Is ANY pertinent information revealed in this meeting? NO! It's just more vague back and forth dialougue that means nothing and answers nothing. This whole episode was completely pointless! We learned nothing new, there was no big development, and it was, as always , just treading water. And even the flashbacks this week, usually the most reliably well-done part of Lost, were totally redundant and boring. We GET IT - Jack is obsessed with saving people to the point of alienating those close to him. Did we need yet another flashback to illustrate this? And what did these flashbacks have to do wit hthe main plot? Once again, they just seemed like filler to pad the episode, which was totally thin on actual events. On a better show (say, Lost Season 1 ...), I would have had chills when Jack tells Ana Lucia that he wants to train an army to fight the Others. But by this point, my second of fanboy excitement quickly vanished with the knowledge that the whole scenario makes no sense and probably won't be executed well anyways. When top writer/producers like David Fury left Lost after Season 1, I guess it really did signal the beginning of the end. Now you can see the talent of Fury at work on 24, a show that continually brings the dramatic goods week after week, and never slows down for a second. Lost meanwhile, is totally lost. My grade: C -

SMALLVILLE:

The Superman franchise is in trouble. The new movie is shaping up to be a giant letdown. We've got an effeminate Superman, a terible-looking costume, a stubborn insistence on following the continuity of the Donner movies, and a plot that looks to toss the Superman mythos to hell. But every week, the little Superman show that could reminds us how to really capture the spirit of the Superman mythology. Tonight's ep was a pretty entertaining chapter i nwhat has been a great season for the show, though it was marred by the increasingly annoying tension between Clark and Lana, which is exascerbated by the somewhat stilted acting of Kristen Kreuk as Lana. Also, not sure why they chose to use DC Comics staple Victor Stone, aka Cyborg, as a quasi-villain here, when he is a longstanding hero in the pages of the comics. Anyways, the stage was set nicely for next week's huge 100th episode - where supposedly at least one main character will die. Who should die? Chloe - her usefulness to the show has expired and her death would serve as a good catalyst for the show. Yes, they have already "killed" her only to bring her back, but this is the best choice. Who WILL die? My guess is Jonathan Kent. eeing as how their seems to be a mandate by WB to follow the Donner movie continuity, and we all know that Pa Kent bites it in the first one, it seems clear that Jon Schneider is doomed. I hope not though, as the Kents being alive and kicking is one of the better changes that John Bryne brought about in his 1986 reboot of the Superman comic book universe. Another potential victim? The ycould go for the swerve and have Martha Kent be the one to go rather than her husband. Also, whoever else meets their maker, it's a good bet that Lionel Luthor, nefarious father to Lex, may finally be toast as well. As for tonight's ep ... well, the soap opera stuff was a bit grating, but as always - Lex, Jonathan, and the heroics of Clark made this a really fun ride. Oh, and a very nice death scene for Smallville's sheriff. My grade: B

Quick Hits:

My Name is Earl: Funny episode. Ethan Suplee rules it again. Some good lines. B

The Office: Hilarious stuff with Michael at Hooters. Dwight spying on Oscar was very funny. A -

Last Week's OC - Terrible episode. This week better turn things around, cuz the show's reached a new low point of just plain blandness. D

Gilmore Girls - The Logan stuff is getting pretty annoying, but I have actually been enjoying the Luke and his daughter stuff, and the dialougue is sharp as always. B+

24 Premiere Part 2 - One giant action scene, but lots of tension, kickass action, and even more new twists and turns. Enter Sean Astin as a CTU prodigy. Still not sure what to make of his character, but there's one thing you can always count on -- Jack Bauer brining the pain. Looking forward to seeing how the season pans out. Even if this show can just be totally absurd at times (see Jack repeating the same phrase over and over to indicate he was under duress, and the terrorists never cathing on ...), whatever ... I'm along for the ride. A -

Way too much good TV on Thursdays now. Smallville, The OC, Office, Earl, Beauty and the Geek, the NBA on TNT ...

@ WORK

Other than the same old stuff at the assignment, Monday was crazy as I worked a special, EIGHT HOUR taping of ELLEN. For the Golden Globes, Ellen had all it's audience members come dressed to impress in evening gowns and tuxes, and it was pretty weird to actually feel underdressed in my page uniform. The whole riffraff room was converted into a banquet hall, and the audience dined on dinner as they watched a live feed of the awards. Paula Abdul and Common were on the show live, and Ellen did remote interviews from the Globes' red carpet. It would have been good times if a.) we actually go to eat the catered food that the audience got, and b.) if it wasn't EIGHT HOURS.

WHAT ELSE?

- Flashbacks this week to childhood trips to Disneyworld, dining out at The Ground Round, and endless birthday parties. Why? My parents' old pal Jackie was in town from CT along with the mustacheoed man known affectionately by my brother and I as the man, the myth, the legend, the LOU. Jackie and Lou and I enjoyed a fine dinner at Micelli's restaurant, and they also enjoyed VIP status at Tuesday's taping of The Tonight Show. Hey, I gotta be nice to Jackie - afterall, she has known me since I was born and has probably seen me at my worst at various family vacation of yore. Oh, the stories she could tell you about me ...

- Still need a job. Keep looking for me!

- Oh, Inside the NBA - funniest show on TV.

- I hear some people have been itching to post a comment on my blog. Well hey, NOW is the time. With close to 7,000 hits, this blog is a uniting force, a pop-cultural juggernaut, the modern day equivalent of the town square. Okay, only myself and three other people read it. Or do they ...? Are you a closeted reader of ye olde blog? Out with you - admit your fandom now, true belivers - get on the bandwagon before it runs off without you!

- Let the burn out continue.

- I recently burned a CD of all classic, 1970's era hard rock. It's got ELO, Deep Purple, Foreigner, The Who, Cream, Alice Cooper, Stevie Nicks, and more. It rocks.

- Chrck yo'self ... before you wreck yo'self. Worrrrrrrrrrrrrd.