Saturday, December 29, 2007

The Revolution Still Has Not Been Televised

Yeah, I know I took forever in between posts...I'm already failing at the goals I set for this blog.

Egh, you'll get over it.

Anyway, I've been doing some top lists for 2007 and I figure now is the best time to debut some of them. (Mostly because I don't feel like writing that Hillary Clinton campaign ad article.) So, here is the first list:

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Yeah, shitty graphic and all...the computer I'm doing this on isn't mine and doesn't have photoshop on it...fuck

anyway:

5) Flight of the Conchords (HBO)

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The awkwardness of this show turned off a lot of people. To me though, that was what made it near perfect. There was no laugh track, there was no conventions, hell, most of the time there was no plot. It's the same kind of experimenting with the sitcom genre that HBO did last year with "Lucky Louie", except more accessible....and not as much full frontal male nudity. Also the music parodies were spot on:




4) The Sopranos (HBO)

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Everyone was talking about that final episode. Yes there's a lot to talk about in it, but even without that abrupt cut to blackness (which had me cursing my cable company...I admit it) the rest of the season was brilliant. Everything from AJ's suicide attempt to Christopher's murder. I think I was more entertained by this season that I was for any previous.


3)Pushing Daisies (ABC)

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No, this show wasn't without it's faults (when it leaves it's little make-believe world and strikes pop culture references that are more recent than the works of A.A. Milne I kind of shudder...the Vertigo reference was alright, but the Star Wars reference was a little out of place). They're still trying to figure out the shows voice. But look past that...it's as if Tim Burton created a TV Show. It's incredibly enjoyable and it can only get better.


2)Heroes (NBC)

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Remember that the end of season one was in 2007 as well, and I don't think anyone would argue about the quality of that. Yes, Volume Two took off very slowly. Tim Kring apologized for that. Anyway, Volume 2 did get better, and I still looked forward to it every week.


1)South Park (Comedy Central)

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Wow, what a season. Think back to earlier this year with that infamous episode where Randy Marsh made it to the final round of Wheel of Fortune. That my friends was gold. What else happened this year...Randy Marsh played World of Warcraft, Randy Marsh took a huge shit...hey, I guess this has been Randy Marsh's year. Also 9/11 conspiracy theories, Lice in a Michael Bay movie, a bomb up Hillary Clinton's snatch, and the awesome Imagination Land Trilogy. South Park strikes gold again.


Also notable this year: The first 6 episodes of the Sarah Silverman Show (the second group of episodes, outside of the blackface one, were really weak), Colbert Report and Daily Show, Weeds, Mythbusters, Frisky Dingo and Robot Chicken. And before people tell me other wise, I work during 30 Rock and The Office so I never get to see it. I need a Tivo.

Next I'll either post the top movies of music, I'm not sure...and hopefully it won't be 3 weeks later.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

25 years of parents begging kids to play outside for a little while

The Commodore 64 turns 25 this week. By todays standards this computer--oh let's just say it and not beat around the bush--to anyone who didn't live through the progression of computers themselves; the fact that this computer exists, let alone that people are celebrating it would seem insane.

We've progressed a great bit in computers since the days of the Apple Lisa and "IBM Clones"...and that's a good thing. Still there's something...intriguing about this piece of outdated technology, and that's probably the reason we haven't forgotten about it, and fan sites for it flourish on the internet. For many people the C64 was their first personal computer, their first game system, and their first step towards the society we're living in today (not to mention the first step to the cyber-obsessed 80s.)

Sadly, many people my own age haven't even used a C64 before...we might be celebrating 25 years of the machine, but most didn't last more than ten years...unless of course you used the computer labs in my old high school. Honestly, up until I was in 9th grade (1998/1999) I had to use machines like the C64, the Apple 11e, and the Apple GS. The newest machine they had was the early 90s update of the Mac. Finally around 2000 (probably due to the Y2k scare) they updated all their machines...to first generation iMacs...I was happier with the retro-comps...

Man did I hate the first generation iMacs...

Anyway, happy birthday Commodore 64!