King of the Impossible: 30 Years And Counting

This is always an odd time of year for me. Depression sets in as the anniversary of my father's death approaches. This year it's been 30 years. So the round numbered anniversaries get worse as they seem to mark milestones.

It also happens to be the 30th Anniversary of the Dino DeLaurentiis produced, Mike Hodges directed, Lorenzo Semple Jr. written film version of Alex Raymond's classic comic strip icon "Flash Gordon". Which does temper my sadness a bit.

I first got introduced to Flash Gordon when I was around 7 or 8 and living in NYC. PBS was airing the old Buster Crabbe serials and my dad got me hooked into them. We watched all three of them as they aired and I loved every minute of them...partially because of their wondrously retro special effects and partially because I was watching them with my dad who had already introduced me to other sci-fi stuff like "Star Trek". I didn't know it at the time, but the story of the outsider who comes to unite a disparate group against a common enemy was a story I would come to love when I eventually saw it again in "Lawrence of Arabia" and then loathe as I saw both "Flash" and "Lawrence" get ripped off in "Dances with Wolves" and more recently "Avatar". "Flash" was there first and even in his bad incarnations (I can't watch the 1950s TV series), he does it better.

We knew the movie was opening in 1980 and I was looking forward to my father taking me to see it. Unfortunately, tragedy took that option away. But in the few weeks that followed his death I did get to see the film and it took me out of myself and my sorrows for two hours. I even saw it a second time in the theaters. It was "Flash Gordon" and it was great...

Well...it wasn't "great" as a film...but it was "great fun"...and 30 years later it still is. The over-the-top cheese and camp of the whole thing just works beautifully. I know you can argue what makes something camp and there are many who say that it has to have a knowing wink at what's going on and that this film doesn't satisfy that...but I say they're wrong, it does and it does it with such glee.

But I'm not here to argue the hows and the whys...just to say how much I love this character, his story and , in particular, this version of it. Is it the best version of Flash Gordon? No. After Alex Raymond's original comic strips (which I've read a few times after tracking down the old Kitchen Sink reprints I had the first few volumes of), the best adaptation has to be the first season of "The New Adventures of Flash Gordon" which aired as a Saturday morning cartoon on NBC in 1979. The first 16 episodes of the series are faithful to the look and feel of Raymond's stories. Unfortunately, NBC mandated an overhaul for the second season that took a serialized story and gave us self-contained episodes that played down to kids and added a cute cuddly dragon named Gremlin.

The animated series actually came about when Filmation did a movie version that got repurposed into the series. The movie version can be seen on YouTube and is probably even more faithful to the material (especially as it's much darker ). The entire NBC series was available on DVD from BCI but is now out of print.

While this was airing and in the wake of the success of "Star Wars" when everyone was going to sci-fi (even James Bond), came this overblown, brightly colored, thunderously scored ball of fun in film form.

Flash is played by Sam J. Jones, former Playgirl playmate, who plays the part as little more than a himbo (he's a football player now instead of Raymond's polo player). Luckily, he and his leading lady (Melody Anderson as travel agent-cum-cheerleader Dale Arden) are surrounded by some really great actors who are not only playing their roles with a "seriousness" you don't find in most sci-fi, but they're obviously having fun doing it. Max Von Sydow, Chaim Topol, Timothy Dalton, Brian Blessed, Ornella Muti, Peter Wyngarde and Mariangella Melato are all in fine scenery chewing form...but not quite of Shatner-esque proportions so as to make things completely ridiculous (check out Ming's chat with Flash in Vultan's Sky City which strikes the right balance of fun and fear).

Between the amazing design of the film (costumes and set design were all by Danilo Donati and look like a cross between Raymond's drawings and schlocky 60's Euro Sci-Fi...just look at the various minions of Ming...we have "ducks," "samurai" and "football players" all looking fantastically ridiculous) and the rousing & rocking score by Queen (aided by some orchestral pieces by Howard Blake) that brought the "iconic" theme that everyone can recognize from the opening drum beats and intermingled "flashes" of thunder throughout, the film is just fun. It was fun for an 11-year-old trying to forget his situation and it is fun for a 41-year-old looking forward to sharing a viewing with his boys as his father did with him using an earlier version of the story.

Of course, I'll also show them the Buster Crabbe versions...and the Filmation version...and Raymond's original comics...

And I'll share with them the DC Comics re-invention from the late 1980s that would have made a great movie in itself (it holds up well enough, but does feel a bit dated for a comic book)...and the more recent re-invention from Ardden Entertainment that seems to have a few sequel comic book mini-series on the way (although they've had "coming attractions" for them with art samples on their website for over a year and nothing has actually hit the shelves). This one is off to a great start and I can't wait (but seem to have to) to see where they're taking it.

I don't know if I'll ever share the Sci-Fi (now SyFy) TV series from a few years ago as it strayed too far from it's roots (even though I really liked some of the acting and characterizations). They could have called it "Buck Rogers" for all the actual connections it had to Raymond's original work.

So we've covered films and comics...but what about my other love? Surely there have got to be "Flash Gordon" toys somewhere in the house? Yes...but not as much as one would think...and some stuff that I had as a kid that are lamentably gone.

Mego had made 4 figures and a playset (Flash, Dale, Zarkov and Ming) back in the 70s...and I loved those...but I have no idea what happened to them...most likely they got played with until they fell apart like the rest of my Megos.

Mattel made a line of figures to go along with the animated series...but that was only 8 figures and two ships...also, played with until they fell apart. I even remember painting the Flash Gordon figure to make him look more like the movie version -- which had no action figures at the time. Luckily, nostalgians of my age who run toy companies have changed that. Bif Bang Pow created a line of "staction figures" three years ago (more statue than action figure since they have limited articulation) that consisted of Flash, Ming, Dale, Barin and Klytus with variations of each (look...Klytus is in his "death pose" with eyes bulging and tongue hanging out) and a second Flash in his "Flash T-Shirt". They also did bobbleheads of Ming & Flash. And just about to hit toy stores, and the ones I'm most excited about, are "Mego-like" figures of Ming & Flash from the film. I'm hoping these do well enough to get us the rest of the main characters in the same 8 inch format. Sure, it's not a 12 inch version that I've always dreamed of, but it'll suffice (you can insert your own phallic jokes here).

A small toy company called Go Hero has also released a 1/6 scale version of Flash Gordon from the Buster Crabbe serials. They have talked about also releasing a Charles Middleton Ming as a companion piece, but it's been over a year since Flash hit the shelves so who knows if Ming will ever see the light of day.

Meanwhile, the movie I love so much hasn't fared as well as I think it should on the home video front. Sure, it's always looked and sounded great. It was one of the first films I ever owned on VHS...which was replaced with a widescreen Laser Disc...which then got replaced by the DVD "Savior of the Universe" edition that contained two rather bland featurettes (one being an interview with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and the other being an interview with comic book artist Alex Ross who loves the film probably more than I do...doesn't mean I should get my own interview on a DVD). This has now been "upgraded" to the Blu-Ray which looks amazing, sounds amazing, but has the same disappointing extras (this is especially disappointing in light of the fact that the Region 2 UK DVD has an interview with director Mike Hodges, a commentary by Hodges and a second commentary by actor Brian Blessed and that there is also a commentary in existence -- done for a radio show -- by Sam Jones & Melody Anderson). Maybe someday, the movie will get the respect it deserves on video in the area of "supplemental extras". hey...I dreamed of eventually have real action figures from the movie and at least we're getting Flash & Ming for now.

Well...I think I've said enough about Flash Gordon. I wish my dad had lived to see the film. I think he would have enjoyed it as much as I have over the years. I hope my sons do as well.

We'll know eventually.

Be seeing you.

Where Had I Gone, Joe DiMaggio??

Hey folks,

Been a while, no?

Sometimes life gets in the way of things we intend to do...and that's pretty much what happens with this blog every so often. Well...more than every so often...Actually, every so often I sit down and bang out an entry exclaiming why I haven't done this in a while and we go back to silence for a few months.

But I've kind of missed doing this on a somewhat regular basis. Sure, Facebook status updates seem to take it's place on a daily basis...but it's not the same.

So we start, like I have with a whole bunch of things lately, with baby steps. Slowly getting myself back into the swing of things. Today, we take a look at the last few days in TV watching and what's on the DVR.

I used to enjoy writing about the end of each TV season and giving quick "shout outs" to shows not returning and previewing shows that will be new in the fall. But honestly, did I really care to write about "Flash Forward" at the end of last season when I still had a backlog of five episodes to catch up on that I didn't care to watch (they finally got erased from both DVRs this week to make room for new episodes and quite frankly if I ever get a hankering to see the show again instead of reading Wikipedia to find out how it ended, there are other options).

So Monday night brought the first new episode of "House." What can I say about the show? It's still well written and well acted and it's gonna be interesting to see where they take the whole House/Cuddy relationship (I believe they're now referred to as "Huddy" in the press as if they were a fictional version of "Bennifer").

We recorded "Chuck" but haven't gotten around to it yet. Looking forward to it in spite of really hoping they'd cast Lynda Carter as Chuck's mom (not that it was ever mentioned or even rumored, it was just a wish of mine). I'm sure Linda Hamilton will be fine.

Since my CBS boycott ended with the premiere of "Criminal Minds" five years ago, we decided to test the waters on a few new shows. Because both my wife and I are struggling with weight issues, we watched "Mike and Molly". While there are lots of stereotypes and old fat jokes, the leads are really likable and engaging and I'm hoping the show will grow out of it. We'll see where it's at after 5 episodes (which is two more than my usual 3 episode tryout).

I also braved the waters of "Hawaii Five-O" myself. This remake feels more like they took some names and a theme song from an old show and blended it with the cliches of a bunch of other shows. One annoying thing is the way too fast-paced editing and dark lighting. I didn't notice until the end when they killed the bad guy that it was James Marsters. It was enjoyable enough and certainly something that can be "noise" in the background while I'm doing other things (like maybe writing one of these). We'll see what the next two episodes bring.

I did record "The Event" but haven't gotten to it yet.

Tuesday night brought a new episode of "Glee" and what has to be the funniest concept for a new character in a while, the new female football coach. I'm embarrassed to admit I thought it was a guy playing a woman, but apparently that's a female. The show's still as goofy as ever (for a Glee Club with no budget, since it keeps getting slashed, they seem to be able to break out into well lit and finely edited musical montages without getting weird looks from the other students) and remains a guilty pleasure for us.

We did record "Raising Hope" and "Running Wild" but have not gotten to them yet.

Wednesday brought back new episodes of ABC's sitcom triple threat of "The Middle", "Modern Family" and the unfortunately named "Cougar Town." All three shows started the season off on the same foot they ended last season -- the funny one. To have a good two hour block of comedy though, the network is gonna have to find a better show than "Better With You" which was little more than a cutesy, cliched and negligible show that has trapped some good talent in sitcom limbo. I'd like to toss out the idea of bringing back "Better Off Ted" which the network squandered for two seasons...not that it'll ever happen, but it would make a nice compliment.

I recorded the season premiere of "Criminal Minds" but I don't know how long it'll take me to get to it. I kinda fizzled out half way through last season and haven't caught up. No real reason for that beyond life getting in the way.

And while I also recorded "The Defenders" and "The Whole Truth" I don't think I actually care about watching them and will most likely delete them unless someone can give me good reason not to.

Thursday night was a long night as we went to see "1776" at Curtain Call (Stamford's Community Theater) and didn't get back until 11:30 since it's a three hour show. But we did unwind with the new episodes of "Community" and "30 Rock" and were much happier after all that funny. (I do wish Cablevision's DVRs would actually accept recordings to go over by a minute -- you can program it, but it never seems to stick -- cause we keep losing the very end of "Community" and the bits with Abed and Troy are hysterical).

We also caught "S*&! My Dad Says" which was funnier than it should have been since it's based on some guy's Twitter account (something that "Community" poked fun at nicely).

I caught up on "Fringe" and "The Apprentice" since my wife doesn't care for either show. "Fringe" is probably the best secret on TV. I don't know why I'm still watching "The Apprentice". I think doing so stops me from going out to look at car accidents.

The last thing I watch before going to bed every night is "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart". It is as much "news" as any of the hour long talking head shows on any of the 24/7 cable noise channels, but with much more humor. And while Stewart does lean to the left, he is able to dish it out to both sides with ease. I'll probably tackle some political topics around Election Day for the hell of it since it seems like everyone else yaps about it 24/7 in other venues. So maybe I should make them feel the way I do when I read their one-sided, narrow-minded screeds?

Anyway...will report on/review the shows I've recorded but not seen as I watch them and will do the same with other stuff I'm planning on watching...

So until then...be seeing you.

Behind the Face(book) Day 3

Another day of Facebook updates uncoded (trust me, this will get less interesting as time goes on)...

is thankful that not only did Duncan sleep in his crib all night (after we finally got him in it around 10:30), but he's still asleep. Of course, Malcolm decided to climb into our bed at some point during the night and was pretty much up by 6. You win some, you lose some.

Juggling the sleep patterns of two kids can be exhausting...

officially hates Wednesday drop offs now that I'm leaving both boys at the JCC. Malcolm needs to be there no later than 9:15, but Duncan can't be dropped off until 9:30. Those 15 minutes of extra bonding time made him miserable when they finally opened the doors. Now I'm stuck at my parents' house waiting for some workmen...bored, bored, bored...

Sure its only 15 minutes between taking Malcolm to his class and Duncan to day care...but in those 15 minutes Duncan had phone trying to jam his plastic "Bob the Builder" phone into the coin return slot of a vending machine and I kept pulling it out (much to his delight -- and the nice thing was it fit perfectly)...so by the time we could go in, he didn't want me to leave...but its one of those things you do quickly, like taking off a band-aid...and he had a great day.

has pulled the trigger and started the process on switching from Cablevisionless to Direct TV.

More on this later...

Day 3 of the Wii Active 30 Day Challenge said to rest...so I did 30 minutes on the Elliptical...I'll rest later...

I figured I'm in a groove and while I could have done a workout with Wii Active anyway by just pushing the button, I decided to change things up a bit by "resting" with the game (still filled out my journals) and doing straight cardio.

Direct TV has been ordered (thanks Liz & Darin)...earliest installation is January 21 because lots of people are jumping off the Cablevisionless ship...

We know someone in the install business that we met through doing theater. If we signed up for Direct TV through his company we'd get an extra discount. I talked at length to him about my fears that we would not be able to get a good signal because of all the trees around our house. He spoke to his tech people and they claim that this isn't much of a problem these days. Less than 1% of installs have to be aborted because of lack of signal. So I figured let's try it...worst case scenario is we have a day like the one we had when AT&T tried to install U-Verse -- a waste of time -- best case is we're out from unble the thumb of Cablevision for TV service.

The sad part is that things are only going to get worse across the boards between the distributors (Cablevision, Direct TV, etc) and the providers (the various networks). In the case of what caused us to switch, both Cablevision and Scripss (owners of Food Network & HGTV among others) are at fault. And the only people who are gonna get hurt are the consumers because everything is about pleasing the bottom line of the stock holders and has nothing to do with keeping the customer base happy. Look for more battles like this, more channels removed from various distributor's lineups, rate increases and a major overhaul in how we the consumer eventually get to the programming. Look for the internet to help change that even more drastically over the next few years.

just had the best (or maybe second best) tamale he's ever eaten (which I believe brings the total in 40 years to like 4 -- 3 in the last 7 years).

Our cleaning lady brought us tamales she made over the holidays and they were yummy...almost as good as or maybe better than my sister-in-law's...of course, its hard to keep track of how good things taste when there's at least a year between eating them...but they are good.

isn't sure if it's funny, ironic or just plain stupid that 45 days after the failure of AT&T to get U-Verse into my house, they've sent me a postcard about how "my rates" are going up as of February 1. I'm gonna go with just plain stupidity. And now to watch an all new ABC Comedy line-up (just wish "Ted" were part of i...t, but we got a nice double dose last night).

Of course its just a blanket postcard that AT&T sends to all of its customers, but I found it pretty funny.

Meanwhile, ABC has finally gathered together an almost perfect night of shows on Wednesdays. "The Middle" is a funny show about a middle class family who lives in the middle of nowhere just trying to get by in life. The situations they find themselves in are easy to relate to, especially if you have kids. Patricia Heaton's voice overs are cliche, but you get used to them. The show would work just as well without them. "Modern Family" is probably the best comedy currently on TV. This "documentary" about the lives of an extended family has a top-notch cast and is always funny. "Cougar Town" should be something I dislike (not a big Courtney Cox fan), but it works well because of her supporting cast and the writing. And now they've added "Ugly Betty" to the end of the night, possibly saving it from the death it was experiencing on Friday nights. The show isn't as fresh as it once was, but it is still enjoyable.

Now all ABC has to do is find one more 30 minute comedy to plug the hole left by "Hank" (someday Kelsey Grammar will get a good show that people will want to watch again). I'm hoping they just move "Better Off Ted" onto Wednesdays. Its dying a painful death paired with the revamped "Scrubs" (which I have been referring to as either "After Scrubs" or "The Shitcom Formerly Known As Scrubs" because itis that bad). "Ted" is as funny as "Modern Family" but in a different and more surreal way. This office comedy takes a huge poke at the corporate workplace with a cast of quirky characters who wind up in unreal situations. Funny stuff.

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times... who are all you people?

Occasionally I like to use quotes from various sources as a staus update -- sometimes to see if someone gets the reference, sometimes because of my mood -- This one comes from the TV series "The Critic" and was uttered by Jay Sherman's father. No reason in posting it other than finding it funny (and yet somewhat appropriate for a social networking site where I don't necessarily really know everyone I'm "friends" with).

Be seeing you.

Behind the Face(book) Day 2

Doing this a few hours later than expected because it took longer to get Duncan in bed last night.

Is sore all over...but in that good way...once both boys are out of the house today we do today's Wii Active workout and continue with the binge and purge of stuff around here...

Tuesdays are busy days for the wife. She takes Malcolm to school, then teaches a music class (although that will probably get cancelled since there were only 3 kids signed up and only 1 showed up so she pulled Duncan out of babysitting so he could be part of the class), then she picks up Malcolm, takes both boys to their music class, then Malcolm to therapy (with Duncan tagging along) before coming home around 5pm. So it gives me a good chunk of alone time in the house to try and get stuff done.

Finished day 2 of Wii Active's 30 Day Challenge. Got through all 18 exercizes without strangling myself on the nunchuk cord (my height, arm span and the shortness of the cord helped with that...an extension would be nice, but I'm pretty sure I'd wind up hanging myself in the process). Thankfully, no Inline skating today.

The biggest problem with using the Wii for working out is the nunchuk. Having the cord flopping around is a pain. My arms are too long so doing extensions means I actually have to move both arms a bit just so the cord doesn't pull out of its socket. The same thing goes with running or lunges where the nunchuk is in the thigh strap. One friend suggested going wireless, but another said that the wireless ones have very mixed reviews and suggested an extension. After yesterday's workout, wireless would be the only way to go as an extension to make the wire longer would be worse. So now I gotta figure out which one's the best...more research...yay!

apparently has Bette Davis thighs now...after today's Wii Active workout and all the moving stuff up and down the stairs all day, they're just bitching me out.

By the middle of the day, after working out and moving various things around various rooms (like the 4 VCRs that are just taking up space in my office and are now in our mudroom waiting for a decision on their final destination -- not sure if the $20 I could attempt to get for each on eBay is worth the effort and they may just get donated), my upper leg muscles were screaming at me to stop and sit down for a while. It would take a few more hours before I did that.

I've been telling Malcolm Indiana Jones stories at bedtime (made much more friendly to a 4-year-old) and I'm pretty sure my version of "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" is much better than the actual film. On tonight's "Daily Show" I hope that George Lucas at least apologizes for something stupid he did in the last decade.

Every night I watch "The Daily Show" at 11pm for my "news" (let's face it -- Jon Stewart's "opinions" are probably more valid than Glenn Beck's), but I rarely watch the interview segment unless its someone I'm really interested in seeing. Lucas was on to plug a book (which he did successfully as I now want to read it). The interview was funny (Stewart didn't let Lucas off the hook for the weaker "Star Wars" prequels) and interesting (Lucas has his reasons for doing what he does and was able to refer back to a segment earlier in the show about how people remember "earlier times" -- while he may have "ruined" our movies, there is a generation of kids who prefer the prequels, however wrong they may be).

One day after they announce the next Bond movie is "on hold" until MGM gets sold, they announce that Sam Mendes is directing??? Not fair.

MGM is up for sale and a few days ago the Bond producers finally came out and said that pre-production was on hold pending said sale. Now, they've apparently done an about-face and are trying to fast track the film using the director of "American Beauty". This should be an interesting film if the script can be up to snuff -- more "Casino" and less "Quantum".

That would have just been weird...

The Doctor Who News Page: Torchwood The Musical?

I posted this link to share with friends on Facebook. The idea of Russel Davies making a musical based on "Torchwood" with the guys from ABBA is weird, but intriguing...especially if John Barrowman were to still be involved (he's got an amazing voice and is probably one of the better aspects of the film version of the musical version of "The Producers" even if he's in a very small role).

Well...that's all for today...tomorrow...who knows...we've got a technician coming out from Direct TV to see if we can get a good signal at our house (I doubtful), but if we can we'll be getting rid of Cablevision (well...not their internet for now as what we've got is priced well and very fast).

Be seeing you.

Behind the Face(book)

A while ago, someone suggested I compile my Facebook updates here for those who aren't on that social networking site. So for the next few days I'm going to experiment with that a bit. But you'll get a bit more "thought" here about those status updates...

The day started with:

A new day (week, month, year) has dawned. Time for change...but first...ouch...I'm in pain....owie, owie ,owie...

I slept wrong (again). Duncan's sleep patterns have been in disarray since Thanksgiving and getting him back on track has been a royal pain in the ass. The last week or two has involved all of us going to bed once Malcolm is asleep and as soon as Duncan falls asleep in our bed he gets transferred to his crib. But inevitably he winds up back in our bed most nights and its hard to sleep with an 18 month old kicking you all night long.

Has officially downgraded his Cablevision account. The only thing we'll be "missing" is "Entourage" when it returns with new episodes...I figure we can wait for Netflix to get it...or borrow a recording from someone we know...but we're saving money now and hitting Cablevision where it hurts (wish we could just drop the...m entirely, but we can't). New year, new changes, new rules.

For those who don't know, Cablevision and Scripps (the company that owns Food Network & HGTV) have stopped negotiating and those channels were pulled from Cablevision's lineup. These are channels that the wife and I do watch a lot and would love to pay a fair price for if any company started doing "a la carte" services (they won't). It took losing two channels to finally realize that I don't need the package I have with Cablevision so we went from IO Gold to Family plus IO and are now saving $30 a month. If I could change TV providers I would, but we have too many trees to get a good signal for Direct TV (I can barely get my XM Radio to work in the house), Verizon's FIOS isn't in our area and AT&T's U-Verse hasn't made it down the hill yet (we're 1000 feet short for a good signal -- I know this because I wasted a day trying to get it installed when they were telling me that it was new to our area. Turns out its not our whole area -- but I got $50 in credit from them for my torubles and was told to check again in February as they may have gotten closer).

Just finished his first workout using Wii Active. Starting with small goals & the "30 Day Challenge". Can't do the inline skating (just can't get the hang of it) and need wireless nunchucks (well...would prefer wireless nunchucks). Now on to packing up the holiday decorations.

I'm 40 and I'm a fat emotional eater. It's time to get my act together -- one day at a time, ten pounds at a time. Today was a good day for both the intake of food and the expenditure of energy. My thighs are sore from the lunges -- but its a good sore. The holiday decorations got packed up, but they won't go back into storage until tomorrow or Wednesday.

Dear ABC, We get that you cancelled "Eastwick" because only my wife and I are still watching and appreciate that you were willing to continue airing what you had paid for...but it would have been nice to have you air the episodes in order cause the one you aired on 12/30 didn't pick up where the previous episode left off.

ABC cancelled the show after paying for 13 episodes that got made. They were going to burn them all off before 2009 ended, but they were only able to get to 11 of the 13. For some reason, they skipped episode 11 and aired 12 instead as a "final" episode. This wouldn't have been a problem if the show had stand alone episodes, but its very much a serial and they jumped from the ladies kidnapping a character to them having killed him without showing us the inbetween. Its kind of unfortunate the show got canned as its been pretty interesting. It started off as "Desperate Housewitches" and evolved into a nice mystery piece/retelling of John Updike's novel. Luckily, the two "missing" episodes will be airing in the U.K. this month, so we can at least see them through other means.

I kind of understand why ABC jumped an episode with "Eastwick" (there's some semblence of closure on one story), but they shouldn't have left a big gaping hole in that story by making the jump. Meanwhile, my wife was watching "Supernanny" because we no longer have Food Network or HGTV to keep her busy at night. I have a... new reason to hate Cablevision now...

So "Eastwick" ended with Daryl and the ladies reunited (some closure even though there was a gaping hole as to why he left and where he went) while leaving us with new plot threads just starting. Oh well...

The wife has been searching for shows to fill the void left by Cablevision's short sighted stupidity...so she catches "Supernanny" and the episode is about a family trying to get a 2 year old to sleep at a normal hour -- something we need help with...but the solution was nothing we haven't tried anyway...so we're still at square one.

Anyway...I'm still thinking about the final David Tennant "Doctor Who" episode. While it wasn't bad, it wasn't the best send-off it could have been (SPOILER ALERT). If you're gonna bring back Gallifrey and the rest of the Time Lords either do it or don't. This part of the story needed more time to play out and less "we're back, nevermind, we're gone again" two seconds later. Add to that Russel Davies self indulgent "goodbye" (I think the end of "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" was shorter) and the silly use of a name from the old series and a woman with no real identity -- two things that only played into the concept of fanwankery -- and you've got a bit of a mess with some fun moments and some nice, touching moments. I look forward to seeing what Matt Smith does beyond what seemed to be channeling Heath Ledger in the last moments.

Anyway -- that's all for today, we'll do this again tomorrow.

Be seeing you.