I realized today that I missed an opportunity to declare a Jumped the Shark moment. This depresses me because I don’t get to, with little thought, entwine myself deeper into the industrio-tv culture. Maybe next time.
To that end, referencing previous Blog entries regarding how much Lost sucks now, and how much it should have done better , I’m forced to declare that when they ended this season’s second episode with the SAME CLIFFHANGER as the first episode, Lost had Jumped the Shark.
Jenn and I went to the Roxy Theater last night to see Liz Phair in concert, with Matt Pont PA opening.
Starting with Matt Pond PA, they were quite good. I liked their music enough to buy the album on the way out the door. Haven’t had a chance to really listen to it yet, though. The way home from the concert last night was filled with that magical ringing of the ears.
As for Liz Phair: Well, let’s start by saying that she’s a hottie. She must have spent ten minutes getting into her jeans before the concert and she knows how to play the guys in the audience. I imagine that she practices the hip-swivel thing she does, and it’s much appreciated. She is very easy on the eyeballs.
The concert was a lot of fun. As I said, she knows how to work the audience and the feeling of the show was congenial. There were starts and stops during the set and for all appearances it seemed that she was making it up as she went. She started one song in a key that the rest of the band objected to, so they stopped and argued about it for a minute before starting over. The band played for about 1.5 hours and then had a four-song encore.
Muscially, it was good, but not great. The instrumentals were excellent, but Ms. Phair needs some vocal exercise. Perhaps she’s feeling under the weather, but her range was at least 25% less than I’ve heard on her albums and she wasn’t very solid during the concert. The first song, which was a solo acoustic song, sounded like she was gargling rocks and I was glad that the quality of her voice picked up during the show. However, there were some songs that she just couldn’t manage, “It’s Sweet” being the worst of the lot.
Overall, it was a good concert; a lot of fun with good music. This is the first show I’ve been to in a while where I wasn’t behind some 6′ 2″ person with big hair, which was nice. Instead I was behind four jail-bait teens who, despite not really getting into the majority of the music, had glorious fun belting out all the songs with really filthy lyrics. Hot White Cum was their favorite, followed closely by Fuck and Run.
Conclusion: Liz Phair is a good show.
Something good must be going on.
After years of languishing deep down in the archives of Google, now if you search “ruhsam” you get my blog as the top spot! Woo hoo for egos!
Never Look at the Sun! Especially with a telescope in between you and it. Don’t believe me? Try the link and see what happens to a conspicuously eyeball-sized grape that is placed in front of the eyepiece of a solar telescope.
This link seconded to me through the Bad Astronomy Blog.
As learned from Matt Rosenberg at About.com/geography, there is a website out there, nationmaster.com which has some fascinating information.
Specifically, for this post, mortality statistics by country. What are you most likely to die of? Use the drop down menus to parse the data!
I realize that mortality statistics are inherently serious, but I couldn’t help but wonder (such as with the linked graph) how one manages to die from flatulence?
The list of causes of death is extensive. A glance at it is worth a second or two.
This morning, Jenn and I attended a WABE (Atlanta Public Radio 90.1 FM) function with special guest Kai Ryssdal from Marketplace, of American Public Media. This was free event sponsored by a whole host of companies, and it was quite nice to be at.
Mr. Ryssdal was engaging, as one would expect if you’ve ever heard him on air (Marketplace, on at 6:30 PM Eastern 5 days a week, on your friendly neighborhood public radio station). He talked about the types of programs that the Marketplace staff did, how none of them were business people, and weren’t really interested in doing “business” stories. Again, if you’re familiar with the show, you know they take an off-beat angle on business and economics. A specific reference to this was brought up by the GM of WABE who mentioned the piece Marketplace did on the economics of exotic dancing.
The man has an exceptional voice. It was soothing to listen to him. If you ever have a chance to hear him speak, I would recommend it.
You will note from my earlier post about Lost of one week ago that I was not particularly happy with the second episode of this Lost season. J. J. Abrams has proved to me, like he did with Alias, that he can take a good thing and absolutely ruin it.
The first season of Lost was an intricate mesh of plot lines and personalities, with just enough mystery to keep us hooked. The personal angle was what made the show great, especially how they all ended up interacting in their past lives, unknowingly.
The first three episodes of the second season are merely shit, with no real dialogue or character inside. Mystery after conundrum after enigma has been presented without even the slightest bit of an attempt to resolve ANYTHING.
J.J. Abrams has driven me away from the show (I have vowed never to watch it again) and thus has cost ABC a devoted Wednesday night viewer. Thank you, Mr. Abrams for freeing me from another evening of my enslavement to television. I’m sure my yard and my house will appreciate it.
P.S. I gave up the end of a hockey game to watch that crap! The first NHL hockey game I’ve watched in 18 months! I will not forget.
Geocaching will get easier soon, with the introduction of the next generation of Global Positioning System satellites. The latest satellite was launced Sunday from Cape Canaveral.
9/30/05 Update: Hahahahaha…whoops. “GPS” now replacing the old “GSP” which was in the title. Thanks, Jim, for pointing that out. WordPress needs a spellcheck.
Cobb County, Georgia, is once again regarded as a top ten place! The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that The Campaign to Defend the Constitution has rated Cobb County number two on it’s “Islands of Ignorance” list.
[Use Bug Me Not to see the story without registering]
You can see the whole top ten list at www.defconamerica.org. Suprisingly enough, Dover, PA is numero uno.
As a resident of Cobb County, but not a father of schoolchildren, I find it difficult to get really worked up about this. They went to court, they lost the sticker suit. The stickers have been removed. ‘Nuff said. I personally think that they were a bunch of bone-heads to put the stickers on in the first place. For my detailed opinion regarding the stickers, see my blog post concerning them.
Also see Intelligent Falling for a good spoof of the Intelligent Design movement.
The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search continues. Mersenne 8,797,639 is not prime. So says my computer, the slowest computer in the world.