Sunday reading

Kates, Phoebs and I just spent the entire afternoon sprawled out and sleeping on our living room couches, while the baseball games played out on the TV. Nothing like a lazy Sunday afternoon ...

I've been too scattered the last few weeks to do a whole lot of reading ... So I'm playing catch-up again this week ...

Here's my Sunday reading, including several good reads from the last few weeks. Enjoy ...

Sports ...
a Tough to watch what's going on in National League West
a Ballpark safety is about keeping your eye on the ball
a Cubs' Soto latest Puerto Rican standout behind plate
a Hall of Fame former Tribune reporter was game's official historian and a true original
a Favre's heir? With backing from mates, Rodgers waits patiently
a Pro athletes? They'll take Manhattan (Beach)

The Internet ...
a Believe it or not, these are fake
a Do you believe in miracles? A trio of unbelievable videos
a Facebook never forgets

Politics ...
a Vanity Fair satirizes McCain/New Yorker
a Highlights include groundbreaking footage of Truman, Eisenhower, Nixon and Kennedy

TV ...
a 'Survivor' mastermind shares his secrets

Music ...
a The Who look back without slowing
a 'American Idol' top 10 hit the road to stardom ... Just when I've caught my breath and I'm relieved another season is over, I catch these sunny kids, start reliving the good times of last season in my mind, and I can hardly wait for it to start over again ...
a Hannah Montana is bigger than Batman and Brangelina, but not Miley Cyrus
a Ben Folds talks new album and release date ... Aw yeah. The guy makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

Movies ...
a 'American Teen' pulls you in to high school circle ... Add this to my list of movies I'd like to see. Very Short List also showed off the trailer a couple weeks ago.
a Rumors of Friends movie not true after all
a Samberg has some monkey business going on; video

The Onion ...
a Rain Told To Go Away In 1986 Returns
a Not Snowing Over Here, Man On Phone Reports
a Courageous E-mail To Boss In Drafts Folder Since December
a C.C. Sabathia, Prince Fielder Keep Imagining Each Other As Giant Talking Hot Dog, Hamburger

Sunday reading

We've just watched the Packers dominate the Vikings and settled in for a cozy, November Sunday afternoon ...

Here are some of the stories and headlines that caught my eyes this week ...

TV ...
a In Sweeps, Will Green = Green?
a Are the corporate suits ruining TV?
a Alexander revisits 'Seinfeld' finale
a 'Survivor's' name truly says it all ... I've stopped watching this season's Survivor; the case wasn't appealing to me at all. And I wouldn't call myself a big Survivor fan, but the three or four seasons I have watched have been tremendously entertaining ...
a Viewers Have Growing Selection in Online Video
a Who needs writers? How television could break new ground during the strike
a Hey, did you hear the one about Jay Leno and his eco-friendly Burbank garage?

Politics ...
a America values marriage, but not a dual presidency
a At WTC site, souvenirs are big business
a Editorial: Ryan's gone. Who's next?
a Delusion lingers longer than freedom
a How to win elections, FDR style

The Internet & Media ...
a Fighting for members, MySpace tries to outcool Facebook ... I do both. And I've got to say Facebook is growing on me for exactly the reasons this article points out. I still looooooooove MySpace for its ease of finding new music and monitoring my favorite bands, as well as the ability to really personalize my page and stay in touch with old friends. But, I'll admit I'm finding Facebook to be a good means of staying in touch with people, too, not to mention all the fun applications that you can download on to your page. You have to admire Mark Zuckerberg for doing it his way ...
a Balancing Bottom Lines and Headlines
a Taking on the Talkers
a Nokia and Reuters develop an N95-based "Mobile Journalism Toolkit ... I want one.

Sports
a Baseball GMs Recommend Instant Replay
a Baseball's Jose Guillen, Matt Williams bought steroids from clinic ... my heart aches every time another player is named in the steroids probe, especially when it's one I really admired. In this case, it's Matt Williams.
a First active player volunteers to meet with Mitchell
a Dodgers introduce Torre in center field ... I watched the Torre press conference online. So cool! Though, seeing him being greeted so warmly by Dodger legends like Tommy Lasorda and Vin Scully was kind fo surreal ...
a Dodgers get a star, but will they get A-Rod?
a Cubs' sale crawling into '08
a The nation might be at a loss for words to explain Kansas ... I'm with the nation.
a For lots of reasons, Mets and A-Rod make sense

Life & other stuff ...
a You Can Hear Google Now
a To Mark 150 Years, History Will Go on Tour
a Atari 2600, Raggedy Andy, Kite Enshrined
a Lonely Planet: Satellite Pictures Drive Home The Fragility of Our Earth
a Soldier survives bizarre injury thanks to heroics and a bit of tech
a Katie Holmes runs and finishes NYC marathon
a 'Small World' rehab will keep the big kids afloat
a Amid ashes, neighbors rally and new life stirs
a Dream House or Nightmare?

Study Finds Working At Work Improves Productivity

WASHINGTON, DC—The groundbreaking research found that by simply sitting down and doing work, employees can dramatically increase their output of goods and services.

Fall Canceled After 3 Billion Seasons

WASHINGTON, DC—Autumn, which had been slotted between summer and winter, will be replaced by stifling humidity, constant sunshine, and little precipitation.

Peyton Manning Shows His Backup Proper Way To Hold Clipboard

TERRE HAUTE, IN—Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning interrupted an intrasquad scrimmage Tuesday for approximately 45 minutes in order to show backup quarterback Jim Sorgi how to properly hold his...

TV talk

Ok. So I just finished cleaning off the DVR and watching the first round of premieres. This is a rare year for TV: I haven't been overly impressed or blow away with anything I've seen this time around; Or maybe I'm just becoming jaded and more picky in my old age ...

Here's a rundown of the few highlights ...

Reaper. I never would have imagined watching this one. I saw it on a what-not-to-watch list. It looked terribly cheesy. And it's on the CW. But my friend Liz said she wanted to watch it and suggested I might actually like it ... The plot revolves around Sam, a 20-something guy who works with his buds at a Home Depot-like improvement store. He discovers that his parents sold his soul to the devil after he was born and now must do the devil's work by capturing the bad guys ... It turned out, the more I watched the premiere, the more I got into it -- and the more I caught myself laughing out loud -- although I could've done without the blood and gore of the guy getting sucked up by the Zamboni. But the writing is smart, the character chemistry is charged and the hilarity of Sam having to use a Dirt Devil as his "vessel" to suck up the fire-throwing arsonist, and then having to go to the DMV /"Hell on Earth" /The Portal to turn in the vessel, was beyond comical. The icing on the cake is Tyler Labine as Sock; loved him in the dearly-departed Invasion and I think I'm gonna love him in Reaper ...

The Big Bang Theory. Also didn't expect to be watching this one, but I figured CBS put it in with their Monday night sitcoms -- there has to be something to it. So I watched -- and I liked it ... It's about a group of science geeks and their trials and travails in life and relationships. The episodes are way overloaded with nerd talk and science-geek references (We get it! They're nerds!) ... But the chemistry and banter among the characters is strong enough to keep me entertained. I found myself doing double-takes at Sheldon, played by Jim Parsons -- his character is reminiscent of David Hyde Pierce's Niles on Frasier, and I love it! And Kaley Cuoco as Penny, the girl across the hall, is surprisingly good, mature and fun to watch, far from the eldest daughter she played on 8 Simple Rules ...

Pushing Daisies. Talk about huuuuuge expectations ... I'm a sucker for anything that's as wildly colorful and whimsical as this show -- it reminds me of "Big Fish" ... More great character chemistry! Lots of potential! I'm in ...

Cavemen. Call me crazy, but I expected a little more out of this one ... It was awful. I stopped after the first commercial.

Private Practice. Ok, so I said I was boycotting it ... But I had to watch the first episode, just to be sure. Yep. I'm sure now. It's nonsene. And I'm not watching it ...

And the old favorites? ...

Survivor ... Eh. I'm not really digging the whole China thing, or this season's cast for that matter ...

Grey's Anatomy. I've settled on the notion that it's never going to be as good as the first season ... But I think Lexie's gonna grow on me ...

Heroes ... It's still mystifying, but the lust is wearing off this one too ... especially after that anti-climatic season finale last May ...

How I Met Your Mother ... still good. Mandy Moore in the premiere?! I'm set for another season ...

Two and a Half Men. Sorry guys. It's been fun ... but after watching the premiere, I have to say the jokes are wearing thin, and Jake has grown beyond them. Kates and I have removed it from our DVR ...

The Office ... Jim & Pam are dating! Dwight killed Angela's cat. And Michael hit Meredith with his car. Good stuff!

But my thing with The Office is this: As a whole, I don't think it's consistently funny. Rather, it's individual scenes that make it so good; they're instant classics. So in honor of the HA-larious-ness that is the The Office, I give you my three favorite Office scenes of all time ...

Enjoy.

TV talk

So Lakisha got voted off Idol last night ...

Big deal.

I can't say I really, really like any of the final three ...

Blake's beat boxing is starting to get really old. And there's nothing about Melinda or Jordin that excites me ...

I'm losing interest ...

I miss Gina.

* * *

Another messed-up episode of Lost ...

It was nice to learn some background of Ben ...

But I can't possibly imagine Locke is dead!?! He's one of the show's deepest characters!

... but hey, at least we know now that the writers are concocting an end for this thing ...

* * *
Grey's Anatomy was another eye-roller this week ...

I miss the bliss of Season 1 ...

Watching the previews leading up to this week's episode I thought for sure that Adele was the woman collapsed on the floor beneath the Chief. But all the Grey's fans I spoke to swore it was going to be Bailey because she's been working so hard, she doesn't take breaks, she never sees her family and blah, blah, blah. Yeah. They were wrong, I was right ...

But she's pregnant!?! Seriously!?! ... Eye roll.

I will say this though -- and it's something you never would've caught me saying a year ago during the whole Denny fiasco -- Izzie might be my favorite character on Grey's right now. I'm loving her vulnerability, her longing for George and the notion that the two of them could make a really sweet couple ...

* * *

About tonight's Survivor ...

Yeah, this season has sucked ... But watching Yau Man and Earl play the game to perfection every week nearly washes all the bad feelings away ...

Ok, so Yau Man wasn't thinking when he actually gave away his truck to Dreamz -- seriously, why, why, why has no one on that island learned not to trust Dreamz?! -- but Yau Man certainly had his ears turned on during the tribal council. Stacy said too much and that was all Yau needed. Watching him play the idol and then seeing Stacy finally get voted out was almost as good as watching the horsemen's faces the night Dreamz turned on them and got Edgardo voted out ...

Yau Man and Earl are the final two, no doubt.

TV talk

Ah, spring.

The time when TV networks give in. They dole out their leftovers and cheaply-made, reject TV shows to fill the voids left by the shows that at first seemed oh so glamorous but we, the Average Joe, middle-class audience didn’t get 'em or like 'em …

With baseball, church activities, graduate classes and workplace responsibilities running us straight to bedtime on most weeknights lately, Kates and I have barely been keeping up …

Thank God for DVR. Now we spend most Friday and Saturday nights parked on the couch taking in all the TV we’ve missed during the week …

The usual favorites have remained steady and strong. Desperate Housewives (Mrs. McCluskey was keeping her husband in he freezer!!), Brothers & Sisters (We’ve believed in it even when it wasn’t doing well, and now it’s picking up steam. Woo hoo! … Last week: Best episode of the season; excellent writing. Ooooh Rebecca!), How I Met Your Mother (Best sitcom on TV!), Heroes (Ok, that’s my personal favorite) According To Jim, American Idol (Talk about addictive ...), Lost (uh, where the heck is this thing going!?), Survivor, The Office, Scrubs and Grey’s Anatomy (Kates’ favorite … and more on that later…)

Now we’ve got October Road (actually, that’s just Kates’ show … I refused to let myself get into it), The Real Wedding Crashers (my show. Kates refuses to let herself get into that one …) Thank God You’re Here and Notes From The Underbelly …

... The latest candid camera show to hit TV, The Real Wedding Crashers gets my vote simply for being a zany, laugh-out-loud prankfest. Plus Ben, Gareth, Cat, Desi and Steve are five people I'd love to party with ...

... And Thank God You're Here is just as fun for it's never-know-what's-gonna-happen-next factor. It's fun to see people like Jason Alexander and Angela Kinsey doing something out of the norm, and the icing on the cake is watching the talented ensemble cast play with the guest stars -- Hello, Maribeth Monroe! -- Kates and I saw her perform on more than one occasion in Chicago, loved her!, and now she's all over TV!!

Meanwhile, Notes is good for its wry, sarcastic humor, spun on Andrew and Lauren's journey into parenthood. Or maybe it's just more interesting because Kates and I are inching closer to that chapter of our lives ... Either way, Andrew and Lauren are a totally cool, relatable couple. I'll watch anything that Rachael Harris is on. And Melanie Paxson has been a favorite of mine for a few years too ...

Then there's that whole Grey's matter ... Thursday's episode? Loved Christina's latest bout with Burke about the idea of a big wedding (the scene of the girls in the bridal shop was priceless), it was heart-warming to see Meredith and her dad getting along, and smiling, and the whole George-Izzie-Callie love triangle continues to pull on the heart strings too (I'm rooting for Izzie). It's a great show... when it's only an hour long...

So when ABC started advertising Thursday's special two-hour episode, my expectations were lowered considerably considering the show's lackluster other special episodes (the whole Izzie-Denny debacle and the Meredith-drowns-and-comes-back-from-the-dead escapade) ...

What I didn't love about Thursday night's episode? Addison going off to free herself, aka the pilot for her Grey's spinoff ...

It was as if the creators grabbed as many beautiful actors as they could find, stuck them in a glossy California treatment center, loaded up the characters were there own life issues and wah-lah, Addison has her spin-off ...

At least most of the beautiful actors in Grey's Anatomy were virtual unknowns. The spin-off -- Taye Diggs? Amy Brenneman? Timothy Daly? -- the star-power was too distracting ...

Sure, the show obviously has a ton of possibilities, but there's almost too many possibilities -- with little direction, no depth and too many gags. Seriously. The show could've done without the whole receptionist/surfer dude walking through the lobby shirtless. Having Pete drooling over Addison was way too predictable, and then having them makeout in the stairwell was just weird and creepy. And let's not forget the biggest gag of them all -- an elevator that Addison believed was talking to her. Yes, we learned at the end of the show that the voice in the elevator was a security woman, but seriously?

Good read: 'Grey's' secret weapon: Can ABC bank on breakout success with an "Anatomy" spinoff ?

TV check

When it comes to American Idol, I’ve been telling people this for weeks, and I’ll say it once more -- For the girls, I’ll take Lakisha, Melinda and Gina all the way to the end, and I’ll take Blake Lewis and Chris Sligh for the boys. And even if they aren’t finalists, all three of those girls should have recording contracts wrapped up …

And before this week, I would have been begging voters to get Sanjaya off the stage (How he’s still in it, I’ll never understand), but his Kinks performance wasn’t have bad …(Seriously. Who the heck was that crying girl!?!?) … Sanjaya finally brought the umph that made him seem like a true contender during his original audition …

As for the rest of the contenders, Haley’s “Tell Him” was good, but she didn’t sell it … Chris Richardson singing “Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying” was smooth, but the fact he doesn’t enunciate his words drives Kates and I crazy … Phil’s “Tobacco Road” rocked, but I seriously doubt he’s the next American Idol …

The dark horse of the night was Jordin Sparks singing “I (Who Have Nothing).” She just sang, which is all you need to do in this competition. She played herself. She didn’t overdo it. Her pacing was perfect. She hit the notes. She performed beautifully.

And that leaves Stephanie Edwards who was voted off and deservedly so. She sang “You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me,” a beautiful song … and then she had to go and Beyonce-fy it. Yuck. She ruined the song’s perfect melodies with all her runs.

A good read: ‘American Idol’ has begun its decline

* * *

Tell you what -- You promise to start watching The Class, and I'll try watching that other so-called endangered show titled Friday Night Lights. Deal?

Seriously people. It's the most underrated, under-appreciated sitcom on TV right now. Which is too bad because it has all the makings of a Friends-esque blockbuster. After all, James Burrows (Hello! -- Cheers, Friends, Will & Grace, Frasier) and David Crane (Hello! -- Friends) are behind it. What more cred do you need!?

The lowdown? The Class is a cast of characters who went through the second grade together, lost touch and were reunited as a bunch of twenty-somethings when Ethan Haas, played by Jason Ritter, invited all of them to a surprise birthday party for his longtime girlfriend, who actually dumped him at the party. Now Ethan is left scratching his way back into dating along with newfound pals like twin sisters Kat and Lina Warbler, Richie, Duncan and Nicole ...

Ritter, whose comedic abilities so closely resemble his father's chops, and Lizzy Caplan, who plays the sassy and sarcastic Kat, are a match made in sitcom heaven, and they're both on their way to becoming breakout stars. And Jesse Tyler Ferguson, as the clutzy, dopey, puppy-like Richie, isn't far behind. Often, his hard luck and deadpanned punchlines are the icing on the show ...

The sweet dynamic is rounded out by the storylines of gay school teacher Kyle (Sean Maguire), the budding romance between Duncan (Jon Bernthal) and Nicole (Andrea Anders, who deserves to work on a good show after the train wreck that was Joey), Nicole's hollow-headed husband and football legend Yonk Allen (David Keith), and Lina (Heather Goldenhersh) who is relentlessly optimistic while falling for Richie ...

It's a darn good show full of smart comedy, lovable and relatable characters, and some sweet, sweet moments. The big wigs at CBS would be fools to expel The Class ...

* * *

I think my fascination and lust for Amazing Race has come to an end. I couldn't care less about any of these so-called All-Stars traveling the globe right now and I've been beyond bored ...

And this season's Survivor cast is nowhere near as cool as the last season's. Then again, I'm doubting any future Survivor cast will top last year's group...

I'll stick with Survivor, but I'm officially done watching Amazing Race ...

* * *

So NBC's little stunt allowing America to pick the leads of a Broadway musical ended last night ...

Somehow, I stuck with it for every episode. I think I was the last one watching tonight ...

I couldn't have been happier seeing Laura win the part of Sandy. Yeah, yeah, so I said at the beginning that Ashley Spencer was my girl. But when it came down to it, Ashley had the look but she couldn't equal the talent Laura brought. As the weeks went by Ashley seemed to be only going through the motions; the last couple weeks she seemed robotic. Laura took her place the night she belted out "Jesus Christ Superstar" and never looked back ...

As for the Dannys, I was never very high on any of them. In fact, pretty boy Austin was in the basement of my list. For me, he was the Sanjaya of the Grease try-outs -- week after week, I didn't understand how he was surviving. Thank goodness, scrawny Max grew as a performer and came on strong to win the thing ... Sure, he doesn't have the Danny physique, but I'm pretty sure Kathleen Marshall can get him in on a weight training program to help him bulk up ...

* * *

I think I'm with a good majority of Lost and Grey's Anatomy fans when I say: Thank god they've got their mojo back ...

Finally, Lost has been consistently good -- the way it was during its first season -- since it got off its whole let's-treat-Kate-Sawyer-and-Jack-like-zoo-animals storyline and the show returned from its mid-season hiatus a couple weeks ago ...

And Grey's is moving on from its latest cheese-fest that was Meredith's drowning ...

Just keep it real people.

Survivin'

... How great was tonight's final episode of Survivor!?

... Heck, how great was this season of Survivor!?

... I won't deny that a few years ago while most of the country was ga-ga over Survivor and CBS waged Thursday night ratings wars with what was then a powerhouse on NBC, I steadfastly stayed with 'Friends' and NBC...

... Now the tide has turned, and I'm mourning the thought of no longer being glued to the TV every Thursday night at 7 to watch Yul and the Aitu superfriends upset the sorority party known as the Raro tribe ... Good Lord, I'm surprised the weight of Candice's and Parvati's constant eye-rolling didn't roll them right into the ocean ...

It truly was a thing of glee to see the short-handed Aitu foursome methodically pick off the Raros one-by-one each week -- Candice, gone. Jonathan, gone. Parvati, gone. Adam, gone.

... and when it finally came to the final three, I saw Yul as the clear winner because he played the game flawlessly from a psychological point. And even though he didn't win many of the physical challenges, he always was in the hunt ... But then Ozzy emerged as a likeable specimen just as well, and it became oh-so-fun to watch him run up win after win in the challenges ... Meanwhile, Becky could talk all she wanted about the way she played the social game (... her decision not to take the immunity idol from Yul when he offered it was beyond admirable ...), but her humiliating attempt at building fire in the tie-breaker with Sundra removed her from any chance of taking the million ...

... and after all that, I figured at least a bit of a relationship had blossomed between Yul and Becky, but Becky insisted on the reunion show tonight that the thought never crossed her mind. Beyond those two, I was hardly surprised to learn Adam and Candice discontinued their relationship ... and what's this about a relationship that died on the island between Parvati and Nate??

Yep. I could only nod and grin when Jeff Probst said this was his favorite edition of Survivor yet. Though I only have Season 2, Season 12 and a few clips in between to compare, I have to agree with him ...

Here's a great Q&A with Yul ... I knew he wasn't trying to be manipulative when he brought Jonathan's hat to tribal council!!

Catching up ...

... It's been one of those weeks ...

... It's never a good thing when your boss starts it by saying he's heavily medicated. But give him credit, he had just returned from a cross-country trip and was going on two hours of sleep ...

... Our office also ushered in a new computer system and software this week. Oh, the madness ... I arrived in our office Tuesday morning to the sight of a gleaming new flat screen computer on my desk. But it was another three hours before the tech guys had all the proper drives installed and programs working properly -- something that was supposed to be completed overnight. Worse yet, I couldn't access my email. The tech guys told me the program was fixed before I left Tuesday evening -- only to discover the next morning they input the wrong password to my computer when they were changing over the system on Monday night ... and the problems with my machine were hardly as bad as some of my cohorts ...

* * *
... It's that time of year again. The first quarter is coming to a close, and Kates is stressing about filling out grade reports and dealing with crazy (... that's putting it nicely for some of them ...) parents.

... add to that the stress of her masters classes ...

... yeah.

Pray for her.

* * *

... With as cold as it's been around here this fall, we've been ready for snow any day now ...

... then on Monday, the leaves kept falling, the sun shined ... and the temperature rose ...

... despite being night falling earlier, it was freakishly warm as we arrived home from work. And I heard a weather report the next morning that said O'Hare's temperature guage read 62 degrees at midnight...

... in October!

* * *

I spent Thursday afternoon visiting the new Discovery World museum in Milwaukee ...

Another museum, I'd love to go back to on my own ... when it's finished.

It's truly a new world of fascination on Milwaukee's lakefront, sandwiched between the art museum and the Summerfest grounds ... But half the museum is still under construction. Walls are being painted, exhibits are being assembled and down the halls you can hear workers banging and drilling. The museum officials contend they wanted visitors to be able to see the museum grow and evolve, but I don't buy it. Sure about two-thirds of it is open and ready, but the lack of a finished product makes it look as though they ran out of money and had to open the big white box in hopes of attracting some visitors and raking in the money to finish it ...

... aside from the construction mess, the museum atrium alone is a sight to be seen with its wide-open views of Lake Michigan. And the interactive science and technology exhibits on the second floor are worth your time as well.

As expected, though, the aquatic room is by far the highlight. The tunnel underneath the aquarium of Carribean fish sucks you in and doesn't let go -- we stood inside the tunnel for several minutes just gazing at the fish passing over us... amazing. And then there's the parts of the floor where only a piece of glass seperates your feet and the fish-filled water that flows underneath you -- that sensation of walking on the water is sure to freak out nine of every 10 people who visit the museum ...

* * *

It was a good TV week ...

... Sunday night's Brothers & Sisters was entertaining and pulled on the heart strings, as usual. And this week's Desperate Housewives may have been my fave of the season. Seeing the girls get drunk on Lynette's porch was classic. And then Lynette finally gave it to Nora ... yes!

... Unfortunately, Lost isn't holding up as well. We didn't watch Wednesday night's episode until late Friday night because, well, we're not so interested anymore. And even then, I'd already heard enough to know that Eko was going to be killed off ... Here's hoping they let Ben die off, end the torture and the survivors band with the Others to figure out what's really happening on that island ...

( ... I totally disagree with the people who are suddenly coming out of the woodwork and saying Eko was one of the most entertaining characters ... but Tim Goodman's rant is a little entertaining ...)

... As for Thursday night, the Aitu tribe's good vibes and domination never ceases to excite me on Survivor. So long Flica: I'll miss ya, you were darn cool, but you were the weakest link ... The Office, as usual, was good for a chuckle here and there ... and Grey's Anatomy finally started making some sense again. Thank goodness ...

But ...

None of those comapare to Heroes. These days, there is no show I look forward to more each week than that exciting web of ordinary people discovering their crazy super-powers ...

* * *

... Still, with no more baseball to watch and several shows in reruns this week I spent much of my evenings this week laying back and -- as the lovely and talented Corrine Bailey Rae sings so beautifully -- put my records on ...

Talk about a great way to get away from it all ...

... I caught the Dixie Chicks on Storytellers last weekend ( ... amazing performance! Catch it if you can in reruns!! They rocked "Cowboy Take Me Away" ...) and that got me on a kick that started the week with "Wide Open Spaces."

... Monday night was truly dedicated to the records: Cat Stevens: Greatest Hits, Fleetwood Mac: Rumors, The Carpenters: A Song For You, Billy Joel: The Stranger, Elton John: Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player ...

... On Thursday morning, I reached way back and pulled out Hootie's Fairweather Johnson ... underrated album.

... And as the weekend arrived, my stereo has performed multiple plays of the Rent movie soundtrack, KT Tunstall's Eye To The Telescope and, dare I say, Paris Hilton's Paris ... hey, it's a catchy album!

Fall TV

So I just finally got around to watching Wednesday night's premieres of 30 Rock and Twenty Good Years ... I doubt I'll be watching 30 Rock again, which is too bad for all the star power and talent involved. The premiere hardly made me laugh. The jokes were dumb. And Rachel Dratch's talents were wasted. The whole thing plays like Tina Fey said 'Hey, I wanna do a sitcom, I'm going to steal some people from SNL, we'll just mess around and see what we can do ..." ... Twenty Good Years, however, has some potential. Ok, so the jokes weren't much better. But the carpe diem plot is intriguing -- John Mason, the surgeon, is forced into semi-retirement, and judge Jeffrey Pyne is dealing with the death of his wife. And Jeffrey Tambor and John Lithgow seem to have the type of chemistry that could carry the show for awhile ...

And now my fall TV-watching schedule is a little bit clearer ...

... On Sunday nights, a lot has changed. Then again, not much has changed at all ... West Wing is gone. And three weeks in, I'm still trying to get used to the void that used to be the start-to-the-week-pick-me-up that was Grey's Anatomy (which is holding its own on Thursday nights ...) ... Kates and I still have Amazing Race. Love the ethnicity this season. And it wouldn't be Amazing Race without a trashy couple bickering in every show. The Beauty Queens, the Cheerleaders, Alabama -- they all drive me nuts at some point. And the coalminer and his wife -- well, it's all entertaining ... Glad to see Desperate Housewives has returned to its former self. Before the season started, I heard a radio interview with James Denton that had him talking about how messy and chaotic things were behind the scenes last year. Cast members were getting scripts handed to them as they were walking on the stage. Things were screwed up and the show suffered because of it. Denton explained how the writers and everyone involved knew the show had to be turned around. And they've delivered -- the quick wit is back. The deep mystery, the suspense, the tension -- all of it is back, mostly compliments of Orson, who gives me the creeps just looking at him ... Then you have Brothers & Sisters. Eh. The premiere was pretty decent, but ultimately it's probably going to be Sally Field, Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths and the interesting dynamic among the brothers and sisters that keeps us watching, plus the fact that it's on after Desperate Housewives ...

... Come Monday, Kates and are still attached to the CBS sitcoms ... The Class, a pleasant surprise, is charming and fun to watch with its cool and quirky ensemble of characters ...How I Met Your Mother -- Love it. As good as ever ... Two And A Half Men is still strong ... As for The New Adventures of Old Christine, I watched the first couple episodes last spring and barely watched much more. When it won an Emmy, I didn't understand 'Why?' But some of this season's episodes have had us laughing 'til we cry ... At 9 p.m., we're switching to NBC for Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip. The cast is phenomenal and it's hard not to love Aaron Sorkin's racing, walking-the-halls dialogue ... But I think the best new show on television is, by far, Heroes! A sci-fi, comic book, X-men fan I am definitely not. But I've liked watching Hayden Panettiere since Remember The Titans and I was again drawn to the ensemble cast. I watched the first episode and I was hooked! I love the complex characters, although some a more than others (Hiro rocks!) and every twist and turn blows your mind more than one before ...

... on Tuesdays, there's nothing on. Whew! ... at least until According to Jim and Scrubs return mid-season ...

... Wednesday comes and we're all about Lost, dude. Kates and I had half my office over and hosted a Lost party to watch the premiere (... apparently I wasn't the only confused one...). It moves as slow as molasses, but it's a darn fascinating show. Classic story-telling. Fantastic character development ...

... Thursday night arrives ... Five years ago, Survivor didn't stand a chance of showing on my TV, then Friends went off the air, NBC tanked, the Survivor producers added some new twists, added the whole exile island and reeled me in last season. And here I'm back again for this season, even though the point of the racially-divided tribes was ... ? By merging the tribes, the producers rendered their little experience pointless. Either way, I've been rooting hard as heck each week for the Aitu tribe. Yul, Becky, Flica, Jonathan, Candice, Ozzy, Sundra -- what a likable group ... Then the marathon continues when we pickup The Office on the DVR at 8, followed by Grey's Anatomy and the ancient, but rarely dull ER ...

... And on Fridays ... we rest.

TV reads ...
10 fall tube tips
NBC Completely Revamps Fall TV Schedule
TV Commercials Move Beyond the Box
What’s new next fall? Shows to get your blood pumping

Finding treasures

...So I spent last night flipping around to baseball games (... how 'bout that roller coaster, 14-inning Braves-Mets game! ...and the Cubs lost a-gain) and catching up on more TV shows (... would someone just hand Survivor Terry the $1 million and get it over with, the guy is dominating! ... and is it me or does the lame ESPN infomercial otherwise known as 'Bonds on Bonds' get more mundane and boring each week? The whole thing is edited just to make Bonds look good. He won't even touch the 'S' word and he relays every obstacle he's ever faced as if no one in the world has lived a harder life than him.... C'mon. Really. And we're supposed to feel sorry for THIS guy ...) all while searching the classified section for some intriguing garage sale listings ...

Kates and I are in search of a good entertainment center and buffet/hutch to match the rest of our woodwork and decor. And I'm in need of a corner shelving unit ... and, as always, good music and baseball collectibles ...

... So this morning, the alarm went off at 7:30 a.m. I dressed, snagged a quick breakfast and the first of the half-dozen garage sales I'd circled started at 8 ... one by one, I hit 'em all, working fast and scanning the inventory for treasures ...

... I came home a happy man.

... For a total of $24, I walked away with CDs of the Barenaked Ladies' 'Maroon,' Fleetwood Mac's 'The Dance' and Elton John's 'One Night Only: The Greatest Hits' (I just finished listening to the last two and they're even more amazing than I had expected ...), and on vinyl, vinyl! (my crush on the medium continues ... ) I took home copies of Fleetwood Mac's 'Rumors' (actually it's now the third copy I have of this album, the other two don't play so well ...it's such a great album!!), Carole King's 'Tapestry,' Cyndi Lauper's 'She's So Unusual' (classic '80s pop!), Crosby, Stills Nash & Young's 'So Far' (four words: 'Suite: Judy Blues Eyes'), 'Chicago at Carnegie Hall' (my pops had this one ... amazing!) and Neil Diamond's 'Hot August Night' (another awesome live album ...)

... And I'm not done yet. Still with that $24, I also picked up hardcover biographies by Sandy Koufax and Duke Snider, and a couple nice wood frames for about a quarter of the price I would have paid for them at a Target.

Can you say bargains? ... Yeah. I'm saying it right now.