communication breakdown

Top 10 TV Theme Songs

A podcast I listen to (Jay and Jack's RambleCast) recently did a list of their Top-10 favorite TV theme songs. I enjoyed some of their entries a lot, but disagreed with enough that I was inspired to make my own list. So, here we go (click on the speakers to hear the songs)...

10. Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

Growing up, there were two songs that all suburban white boys knew by heart: "Ice Ice Baby" and the theme song to Fresh Prince. It may have been cheesy, but for many of us it was our first introduction to rap - and for my money, rap's never been better.

Toe Meets Leather

What a great start to the college football season. Georgia Tech is off to a 2-0 start and both games have been great experiences.

Week 1: Notre Dame

On the Thursday before Labor Day a bunch of us headed up to Chicago to enjoy the city before heading over to Notre Dame. Chicago is one of my favorite cities, because it has such a pulse to it. While there I had a chance to check out plenty of attractions, including the Art Institute of Chicago, Millennium Park, a boat tour of the river and all of the amazing architecture surrounding it, Navy Pier, and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Sears Tower was a notable omission but I've been before. I also had the chance to sample plenty of authentic Chicago cuisine, including an Italian beef sandwich, a chicago-style dog, and the obligatory deep-dish pizza. The only downside of the trip was the mess that was my attempt to get back to the airport on the El after the game. A combination of misinformation from the hotel desk clerk and stupidity on my part (due to working on 3 hours of sleep) led to me having quite the time getting home. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Now, as for Notre Dame: what an interesting trip. We allowed 3 hours drive time (although it's a one-hour drive), assuming gameday traffic would be crazy. In reality, the roads were empty. What we came to find out was that Midwesterners apparently have no real concept of getting to the game real early - which is fine with me, because it made our trip easier (despite my leaving my ticket in the hotel room and having to go back for it after 20 minutes on the road).

Notre Dame itself was quite subdued - all of the tailgate spots are located on the edge of campus, so the campus grounds themselves, and all the beautiful greenspace, are all open and inviting. And the fans were the nicest I've ever seen - numerous times people would stop us to say welcome and to wish us an enjoyable time. I've never seen anything like it. It almost made me feel bad that we stomped them the way we did.

Then again, I wouldn't have had it any other way. There's nothing quite as fulfilling as crushing an opponent.

Final score: Georgia Tech 33, Notre Dame 3.

Week 2: Samford

Ahh, the first home game. Tailgating. The thrill of the home crowd. The energy of the stadium. Post-game celebrations. More food and drink than anyone could handle. The whole thing is a blast, and it always helps when you open up with an undersized, overwhelmed opponent. The tailgate was short but sweet, and a ton of people showed up (around 50!). The game started out good and just got better - the only downside was the sweltering heat. But it was a small price to pay for a great win.

Final score: Georgia Tech 69, Samford 14

Moving Forward

My original prediction for the season had us at 8-4, losing 4 of the following games: Notre Dame, Boston College, Clemson, VT, Miami, Georgia. After seeing our team, I'm changing the prediction to 10-2, with possible losses in the following games: Clemson, Georgia, VT. The first step is to take care of BC at home this week, which I really feel will be a statement game for us. And the game is at 8 PM, meaning an all-day tailgate is on the horizon. I can hardly wait for Saturday to get here...

Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

[ 8 / 10 ]

Disclaimer: I will keep my review spoiler-free; however, this does not mean that it is detail-free. I can't tell you anything useful if I don't elaborate somewhat on the storyline. So my promise is to give enough details to be mildly informative, while strictly avoiding the revealing of anything critical. But if you're the kind of person (like myself) who prefers to go into a book completely blind, such that every word is a complete surprise, read no further...

So, how do you bring a complex storyline to a proper conclusion, while fulfilling the hopes, dreams and expectations of millions of rabid fans? This was the modest task laid before J.K. Rowling for the final book in the Harry Potter series. Considering the enormity of the task, I would say that all-in-all she did a bang-up job. Somehow she finds a way to pack in several thrilling battle scenes, a lengthy sojourn for a group of exiles, and tons of critical backstory on several important characters - all while bringing everyone's storyline to a close. To even complete such a task is impressive; to do it well is remarkable. It might have its flaws, but I suspect all fans of the Boy Who Lived will find Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be a fitting conclusion; maybe not perfect, but certainly worthwhile and fulfilling.

Harry Potter and the Greener Pastures

Here's a play-by-play of my excursion to pick up Harry Potter Book 7 at midnight tonight:

11:50: Leave house. Destination: Wal-Mart.
11:54: Arrive at Wal-Mart.
11:55: Enter store and approach front of line. Begin walking to the back of the line...
11:56: ... still walking ...
11:57: ... still walking ...
11:58: Disgusted, I leave Wal-Mart. Destination: Kroger (across the street).
11:59: Arrive at Kroger.
12:00: They put a book in my hand as soon as I walk in the door.
12:01: While waiting in line to pay, I do everything I can to completely ignore the family in front of me who literally grabbed the book, flipped to the last page, read it, and begin commenting on what they find there. Not making this up.

12:04: Emerge from Kroger mostly unscathed and very happy I didn't wait at Wal-Mart.

I'm not even kidding, the line at Wal-Mart spanned the entire length of the store. For that matter, it might have wrapped around on itself. I have no idea because I never even saw the end - after walking past at least 100-200 people I bolted.

Book review forthcoming...

Bad Boys

If you haven't seen The Wire, and you love quality television, you need to find out what you've been missing now. For years now I've been hearing from various sources that this show is the best on television, but I had a hard time believing it, mainly because I had no concept of what it was about, and figured that it would win more awards than it does if it were truly that great.

Well, I'm here to report that the rumors are true; this show is as good as advertised. Despite my love for 24 and Lost, I must admit that The Wire is probably the finest TV drama I've ever seen. That's not to say it's for everyone; on the contrary, it's probably only suited for a small segment of the TV-watching population. It has a huge assortment of characters (over 50 at last count), an extremely thorough and slowly-developing storyline, and lots of different side plots. Add to this a focus on the drug trade, and a heaping ton of harsh and profane slang and you have a show that is a daunting (and likely insurmountable) task for the casual viewer.

So what's so good about it? Well, the acting is out of this world. The story is utterly realistic and very rich with detail. The characters are a portrait of reality; there is no obvious "good" and "bad", just "human" (very much like The Shield). But most of all, the writing will knock you over. With honest brutality the show examines the Balitmore drug trade and all the scenarios surrounding it, including the relationships between dealers and cops, politicians and their unwillingness to help out the defenseless, drug suppliers, the school system, and the street environment which funnels children into drugs. It is so frank and heartbreaking that it will open your eyes to a whole new universe.

If you're not scared off yet, I urge you to check it out. Buy the DVDs or rent them from Netflix/Blockbuster. Order HBO if you have to. In fact, I'll probably do this when Season 5 (the final one) airs, because I know I'm not going to want to wait to see how this one ends. You think The Sopranos is good? I'm telling you, it can't hold a candle to The Wire. It's not even a fair fight...

Book Review: Lolita (1954)

[ 8 / 10 ]

Lolita is a troubling and disturbing book on many levels, beyond the obvious reason of the subject matter. Nobody would expect a story about a pedophile to be a cheery and pleasant read. But the real trouble here is that the book is lyrical, beautiful, sincere, and utterly convincing. Vladimir Nabokov, a master of prose, does the seemingly impossible by writing a love story between man and girl that walks a fine line between condemnation and approval. He forces the reader to postpone the natural tendency to be revolted and instead seriously consider the characters' situation. To pair some of the most beautiful writing of our time with such a deep-seated taboo subject, and have the result be universally acclaimed, is surely one of the most impressive literary feats in recent memory.

Changing My Tune

Those of you that know me know that I'm not particularly interested in Apple products. Despite being surrounded by Apple fanboys wherever I go, I've just never been particularly fond of their style and philosophy on computer interaction. While I admire their capacity to push the creative envelope with technology, their style is just not my type...

... which makes it all the more ironic that I bought an iPod. Now, to be honest, I didn't buy one as much as contribute to the purchase of one. Due to a gift I received from my company for being named "Employee of the Quarter" sometime last year, I was able to get an iPod on the cheap. I will admit that this is one of the few Apple products that has at least intrigued me, because I am passionate about music and see the upside of having all my music with me at all times. So I splurged and bought one of the brand-new 80GB video iPods.

For the most part I've been happy. The huge hard drive meant I could put my entire music library (3000+ songs) on there with plenty of room to spare. I can take it into the car, to my desk at work, on walks with the dog, when running, etc. It was a real hassle up-front (to the tune of several days) to get my music organized and onto the iPod, and I have all kinds of issues with iTunes (which I won't discuss here), but for the most part it's been a positive experience.

TV Report Card 2006-2007

Now that all of my TV shows which I watch have wrapped for the year, there's no better time to hand out some grades and accolades.

Book Review: Portnoy's Complaint (1969)

[ 8 / 10 ]

Portnoy's Complaint: A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature...

Philip Roth's description of the fictional psychological disorder at the forefront of his novel is as precise and succint a synopsis as you're going to find. The book's central (and practically only) character, Alexander Portnoy, is a man intensely struggling and internally warring with issues of inadequacy, depravity and a lack of identity, among other things. During a visit to his psychologist (presumably one of many such trips) he bares his soul, and it is the content of this session that represents the whole of Portnoy's Complaint. The entire book is a single conversation, although "diatribe" might better describe it, as the communication is purely one-sided. Over the course of 300 or so pages Alex discusses every minutae of his life in painful, yet often hilarious, detail, bringing the reader along on a wild and insightful look into a man dealing with many demons...

Oscar's Story: Part III

The conclusion of the story of Oscar's puppyhood...