I Came Here to Chew Bubblegum and Kick Ass ...

Hey now. Well, isn't always the case that Tuesdays are a lot easier than Mondays? I mean, Mondays, you're coming off of Sunday in which, if you're like me, you probably slept past noon, which is likely, if you're like me, your preferred and natural state of being. So for one glorious day you have comfortably sunk back into your comfort zone, and then just as you're telling yourself "yes, this is how things should be." you are rudely interrupted by the work week that demands that you shift back into an unnatural state of things, and everything that was, just one day ago, in a perfect state of equilibrium, is thrown off balance. So all day Monday, you're suffering through it, trying to make it through the day, exhausted since you are totally our of any sort of pattern. This is why, even if you go to sleep a little late on a Monday, you always feel better Tuesday morning than you did Monday morning. Why? Simple - because you already woke up at the same time the day before - your mody and mind says "oh, this isn't SO bad. Afterall, I just did this yesterday." And there you have it - to the working man, Tuesday is infinitely better than accursed Monday. - Here's another random thought. Why does anyone ever bother to press the buttons on the Walk / Do Not Walk signs at crosswalks? I mean, do those buttons actually do anything? Aside from all right-thinking people's natural predilection for pushing buttons, doesn't the signal change to "Walk" when the light turns red ... no matter what? Someone please explain to me why anyone ever bothers to push these buttons. I don't get it. - I'd like to wish a hearty "get-well soon" to one of my childhood heroes, and a man who entertains me to this day - the legendary "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who is currently battling one of the toughest opponents of his storied career - lymphoma cancer. I'm sure that the Hot Rod will bounce back soon after having kicked his illness squarely in the ass, but it is still sad to see the Rowdy One sidelined by a disease of this nature. Therefore, the title of this blog entry is dedicated to the Hot Rod. Anyone care to finish the sentance ...? - iTunes News! SLIDERS was the overall #10 most downloaded iTunes Season Pass last week, and the pilot hovered around the #80 - 90 mark in overall a la carte sales. Keep downloading! Tell your friends! TV STUFF: - Alright, alright ... I concede ... despite it's persistent faults, last night's HEROES did a good job of cranking things up a notch. There were plenty of cool twists and turns, and the writers are setting up a very geek-friendly mystery of: "what combination of the Heroes' powers will enable them to prevent the nuclear explosion?" While this question really has nothing to do with plot or character or anything, it is often the issue at the center of any good hero vs. villain fight - by what geektastic combo of super-abilities can the outmatched band of heroes outwit and outfight their nemesis as apocalypse looms? So between Peter's vision of this confrontation, in which he ends up himself being the catalyst for nuclear catastophe, and that painting of Hiro fighting a dinosaur (basically, there is nothing more thrilling to the inner 13-year old of most guys than seeing a guy with a sword fighting a T-Rex ...), to Hiro's hilarious response to seeing it ("I have to find that sword ...") - this ep had plenty of great moments big and small that made me smile and think "cool." And for a show like this which has conspicuously lacked enough of those moments until now, this was good to see. Also, I really liked the scene of Claire realizing that nobody but her remembered that she had a healing power - this was a great twist and probably one of the best plot turns that the show has had to date - setting up a potentially epic rift between Claire and her dad. The stuff with Sylar was also pretty good - I still am not 100% sold on him as a Big Bad, but he's getting a bit better. It's too bad Pixie Girl was killed though - she was emerging into one of the better characters on the show. On the negative side, Milo V as Peter Petrelli is still a real stiff and somewhat unlikable presence, as is Mohinder, a character who wouldn't be much missed if he was to bite it anytime soon. Greg Grunberg as Nathan Petrelli is also just flailing away on this show - I just don't really like or get his character and the unconvincing acting doesn't help. The whole Jessica / DL storyline also continues to drag, and just has not been written very well or convincingly to this point, even if Ali Larter really seems to be doing her best to sell her character's convoluted storylines. Overall though, I am more and more encouraged about this show's prospects, and the addition of some great actors to the cast like Christopher Ecclestion will definitely be a boost. Here's one casting suggestion for ya' - go get Lance Henrikson, ASAP. Doesn't matter who or what he plays - just get him. But yeah, overall I'm liking where things are going, Hiro is still one of the best characters on TV, etc ... I still hate a lot of the dialogue though - that may have been my single biggest complaint with last night's ep - ie, I wanted to smack Milo when he answered yet another question by staring at the floor and saying "save the cheerleader, save the world." Ugh. You don't want your dialogue to sound like it was written by a marketing exec. I'm almost tempted to lower my grade on that alone, but since, overall, this ep had a lot going for it, I'll aim high, based on my general enthusiasm for the direction of the show and optimism for the new episodes in January. Yata! My Grade: A- By the way, how awesome would it be if they had a scene where Hiro is playing Street Fighter II as Chun Li, wins a round, and laughs when he hears Chun Li's winning exclamation of "Yata!" ?Yeah ... I'm a nerd. - Oh, more iTunes news, this one less a plug and more a personal sidenote: The CW is now on iTunes - aww yeah, now I will no longer have to scramble / resort to illegal shadiness if I miss an ep of Veronica Mars. - Fine, one more iTunes plug: check out SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE - THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON, available by the end of the week on iTunes. Land Shark! Alright, I'm out for now - come back next time to the blog that ... just when ya think you have all the answers, changes the questions~!