These are the thoughts of a Texas transplant in West Michigan who makes his living as a newspaper reporter by evening, and a struggling novelist by day.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

the shift

i fear it may be happening...my tv life is shifting. how funny and dramatic is that, huh? pennies in a bucket in the scheme of things, but it does give me something to write about today.

over the past few weeks, maybe even longer, i've discovered my lack of interest in reality tv. it has comprised a large amount of my tv time, which really isn't that much anyway.

the two biggies are survivor and american idol. i've decided that survivor isn't worth watching anymore. some time during the middle of this season it struck me that the show sucked. i thought perhaps this "exile island" thing would be a great twist. nah, it really is insignificant in the scheme of things. the show must be revamped in some way that is a significant change from the crap that's running on the tube now. the show if full of so many losers that it's bored me to death.

american idol also is waning in my book. i still watch it, but it's half-hertedly and will so little interest these days that the fervor i had several seasons ago hasn't bene matched. i was asked why i watch a show that 13 year olds watch with great interest. i said i didnt' know.i don't vote for contestants or anything. but i think i watch it for conversation with friends. it gives us something to discuss in between other, more important conversations. a friend, whose interest is also falling by the wayside, said it keeps her in the loop.

we're down to the final so many contestants that i guess i'll continue watching it. but i really don't care what happens much anymore.

in the wake of this shift away from reality tv, i've taken a big interest in the tv show house. it's a fantastic, and sometimes un-pc show. i know it's fake; they always solve the medical mystery by the end of the show. however, the characters, especially that of house, are interesting and the show is somewhat different. it provides a nice mixture of drama and comedy i love. i really don't dig tv dramas (i only watched one season of six feet under because of the high drama) and usually find comedies unfunny.

another great show that started this season is prison break. again, it's a highly illogical show. no way this shit's going to happen. but the show's plot is addicting, since one week'episode depends on what happened the previous week. plus, the characters run the spectrum from nice to outright assholes. it's great.

my other two shows, both science-fiction, are invasion and surface. both are new this year. surface deals with a species of man-made water creatures that are coming up to the surface and some of them are huge. the season finale finished a couple of months ago with a great cliff-hanger. it'sa shame there were only a few episodes in the season. invasion is still going on. it started off real slow but has gained strength and the characters have become mult-dimisinal. i was almost going to stop watching it,but gave it a chance.

and i still watch lost. the sow has been up and down for me this season, especially with the second half of the season, where many episodes have been mediocre. but i have enjoyed the past few and the ones coming up seem to be building up to a nice finale. spoiler has it that one character will bite it this season.

so i dunno about the reality shows. i guess if i had it my way, i'd start cutting some of them off and getting some good tv shows on the tube.


survivor and american idol better do something different, or else they've lost a viewer.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

who's the guy passed out on the lawn?

i had a weird wake-up call tuesday morning. first my cat is making a big fuss by a window facing the front of the house. it was annoying but i ignored her, despite her persistence at pawing at the window glass.

so i'm getting back to sleep when i hear this pounding on the exterior door. like the cat fussing, i ignore it, putting my head back on the pillow. but much like the cat, the door pounding persists.

it's morning because the sun is out but it's early. i had gone to bed at 2 that morning,s oi was groggy. i put my glasses on and headed out to the porch to check it out.

i unlocked the house door and saw someone dressed in either dark blue or black on the front steps. i knew immediately it was a cop. i stepped out and met him at the door.

(i will refer to the party in question as M.B. to protect the individual. and no M.B. is not a certain coworker by the same initials, although it would have been funny as hell if it was him.)

he says,"are you M.B.'s brother?"
me: "no."
cop: "do you know M.B.?"
me: "no."
cop:"there's a guy passed out on the lawn and he said his borother lives here."
me: "all my family's in texas. no one lives upstairs. i don't know anyone by the name M.B."
cop: "ok. what's your last name."
me: (i tell him.)

so i went back to bed, but i could still hear the noise outside. i guess some drunk guy, here to be known as M.B., had a few too many drinks and passed out on our front lawn. i guess the neighbors going to work must has seen the guy and possibly thought he was dead. that would have been interesting, having yellow tape around my front lawn.

i have drank my fair share of booze in the past but i've never drank to the point where i just simply passed out somewhere, then claim my brother lived in the nearest house i can point to. if this had bene winter, poor M.B. would have been a human popsicle outside. might have made a nice ice sculpture, at least until the temperature got above freezing.