I did almost absolutely nothing productive this weekend and loved every minute of it. I pretty much stayed in my condo the entire weekend. I caught up on my DVR Friday night as well as watched a couple episodes of Dollhouse Season 1 as I am trying to catch up. I am impressed with Dollhouse and it seems to get better as the plot thickens. The last episode I watched which I think was 4 or 5 left me really hanging. Cant wait till watch more.

I met up with some friends Saturday for a chicken dinner at Hodaks then watched the bad MU football game. I have two things to say about this night. One, I am not sure if I like fried chicken anymore. This thought crossed my mind a couple weeks ago after I had been craving KFC for a while and finally went but was disappointed. I then thought the same at Hodaks. Its not that it is bad but there is about 100 dishes that I can think of that are better. Its almost the same reason why I avoided chicken wings for most of my life … I am grossed out by looking at a cooked chicken and all the weird pieces of meat and whatever that it consists of. The weird part is that I can eat chicken wings because wings are normally coated in sauce that masks the appearance. Secondly, why did Blaine Gabbert play that game? His gimp self cost us the game against Nebraska and cost us this game too. We could have easily won this game. He had great protection but kept overthrowing his targets. I am positive that any backup could have bested his play that game.I think the Texas game is going to be disastrous.

On a side note, I had an amazing workout Sunday…did not have the best Saturday but it was still good.  I think the combination of awesome sleep for two nights in a row and no alcohol for a week made my muscles thrive. I blew away my normal lifting capacity in almost every lift.

Good Shows Coming Back

Dexter (Showtime on Sunday) – I was really expecting a lot out of this show. I read in a review that the Dexter books have him teaching his new step children his ways of killing. That would be pretty freaky and wouldn’t make sense knowing his character dilemma so far so I do not expect this. Overall the episode was okay but I believe it was a building block show for their new serial killer.

Californication (Showtime on Sundays) -Seems like this show hasnt been on for ever. I have been watching some episodes lately but really have no clue where the plot will begin. I counted on the preview before the episode to catch up. I thought this episode was pretty awesome. I would call this show the new Entourage. Its edgy and full of surprises.

How I Met Your Mother (CBS on Mondays) – A classic returns. I didn’t watch this show from the start but it is quite funny. I am glad to see that Barney and Robin are a “couple” now but it will make the Barney character into something totally different so not sure how that is going to turn out.

Two and a Half Men (CBS on Mondays) – For some reason, I can’t watch reruns of this show but I am really entertained by new episodes. Needless to say, the first show this season was good. This show is not super funny but it is entertaining. They basically just keep reusing the jokes over and over again.

Big Bang Theory (CBS on Mondays) – I’ve always like this show. Half of it is because of the engineer in me and how they act like they use big words and big scientific theories but they are actually quite basic to anyone that has took a Physics class. Needless to say, I think this show is hilarious.

Gary Unmarried & New Adventures of Old Christine (CBS on Wednesdays) – Both shows are solid and on my watch list.

Fringe (Fox) – I almost totally forgot about this one and it is one of my favs. Thanks to Matt S., I now realize the whole alternate universe concept from the season finale and how Peter actually did die but his dad went into the other universe to get him. That went right over my head. Doesn’t really fit with this statement I read on Wikipedia “Unlike his other series, Lost, J.J. Abrams promises the series’ story arc will be easier to follow and more accessible for those who skip the odd show.” I can follow Lost but seem to be struggling with this show. Guess I need a good Fringe blog to read. I also have no clue how Massive Dynamics plays a role in this show. I thought they were bad but maybe they are only bad in the other dimension. Nina kissing Phillip blew my mind even though I was expecting it.

Sit Down – Shut Up (Fox on Saturdays) – Thought I hated this show plus I thought it was canceled but new shows keep popping up on my DVR and I’m watching them.

New Shows that I have watched so far

Bored to Death (HBO on Sundays) – The pilot to this show was extremely boring. I will give it another try but it doesn’t look good. I am surprised because HBO doesn’t normally disappoint.

Accidentally on Purpose (CBS on Mondays) – I really liked the first episode but curious to see how they could make this into a long standing series since it revolves around a girl getting accidentally pregnant. You would think that premise would last for only 9 months unless it gets more serious with her “boy toy.” I think it caters to the same crowd as the other CBS Monday shows so should do good.

The Forgotten (ABC on Tuesday) – I only watched this because no other shows are new on Tuesdays. I almost turned it off immediately whenever they went over the premise which is a bunch of volunteers solving John/Jane Doe cases after the police give up. It might be a good show but I do not like shows like this so it does not make the cut.

Cougar Town (ABC on Wednesday) – With a name like this, how could you not expect me to watch it. Plus, it has Courtney Cox in it. I really liked Dirt on FX and thought she did a good job on that show to break of out the “Friends” typecast. I was surprised to see this was on a 30 min show. It was funny but I am struggling with the fact that Cox’s image of her body as not hot. She has a hot body; simple as that. I will continue to watch.

Modern Family (ABC on Wednesday) – This show seems to be the same as lot of shows last year that did not get picked up. It was funny but don’t expect it to make it on ABC. Would do better on Fox.

Glee (Fox on Wednesday) – I didn’t originally record this but watched the 1st episode online then recorded the next two in which I watched all 3 in a row on Sunday. I was surprised about this show and how much I like it. It is sorta a musical but has a good plot for a teen drama/comedy. Does anyone else think that the teacher sorta looks like Justin Timberlake? Plus, he dances and sings so its like he could be a dead on impersonator.

Flash Forward (ABC on Thursday) – This show is supposedly made for me according to the reviewers. Its sci-fi, action, and drama all in one just like my favorite show Lost. I thought the premise behind the show is that the world jumps 6 months into the future and now the people are trying to figure out why. I was a little wrong after watching it. The people did jump in the future but only for a couple mins then came back to the present time with everything being totally chaotic. The rest of the show seems to have them solving what is going to happen based on what they saw in their flash forward. To be honest, I am a little disappointed. I think this show was over-hyped. I expect V to be more of my type of show after seeing the previews.

Community (NBC on Thursday) – This show did have a funny first episode so it makes my cut list.

Other shows – I do have a bunch of other new 1 hour drama shows plus Brothers on Fox saved on my DVR but I doubt I will watch them. Let me know if I missed anything worth watching.

“New” Shows on the docket

Madmen – After all the hype, I decided to throw the first two season in my Netflix queue. I have a weird querk where I can not start a show like this in the middle of its life cycle so it will be a while before I catch up to the latest. I did the same thing with Lost after I did not watch the first season until the weekend before the series premier of season 2.

Dollhouse – For some reason this show seems like something I would like too after missing the 1st season so it is in my Netflix queue too. It sounds like this show almost got canceled but the “cult” fans responded which is something I would do so I am giving it a run.

Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO on Sundays) – Amazing enough, I had never watched a single episode. It goes back to the fact that I don’t like to stat a show mid-series. I was intrigued about this season because all of the Seinfeld hype and my love of the show. I thought the first episode was hilarious. I laughed the entire time. It has the same concept as Seinfeld – a show about nothing. I always though that Jerry was the brains behind the show but maybe it was Larry David. Hopefully all the episodes are that funny.

Series Premiers yet to come

V (ABC on Tuesdays) – Every time I see this episode title I think of Vampires but this show has nothing to do with the blood suckers. Instead if is a show about “visitors” who are aliens that are trying to take over the world from within our own governments. This show is supposed to be 1 of 2 shows (Flash Forward being the other) for catering towards Lost fans so I am looking forward to it.

The Middle (ABC on Wednesdays) – This comes out this week. A lot of critics have good faith in this show. I saw the preview and immediately thought Malcolm in the Middle (which I did not like) then found it funny to see the St Louis Post writer make the same comparison. It has Patricia Heaton (Everyone Loves Raymond) so I will give it a chance.

This was a pretty fun weekend. There was so much to do. I had choice among some of my favorites: Cards vs Cubs, Air Show, a MU Football game, Blues game, Schlafly Beer fest, and an old neighbor leaving for Cali. Fortunately, I got to knock a lot of these out.

Friday was the Cubs vs Cards game. I knew a bunch of groups going so I decided to get First Pitch tickets so I woke up late and went and got my ticket voucher before work. The line was longer that I expected and it went pretty slow so I was 45 mins early and waited another 45 mins after the window opened. I bet I was probably #75 in line and I really doubt they went through all the tickets by noon so I bet these tickets are available almost every day till close to game time. Needless to say, my friend had to work late but we still got in with standing room tickets. All in all, I paid $5.50 for a standing room tix instead of the $30 through the conventional ways. The game itself was pretty awesome. My boy Matt Holliday hit a walk off homerun to win the game. We then went to Paddyo’s for a while then Lucas Park then the Wash Ave diner.

What seemed like hours later, I woke up to friends coming over for some pre Air Show drinks and some college Gameday. We then went to the Scott Air Force base air show. It was pretty awesome. You can find all the picture here. My favorite part was Tora! Tora! Tora! which is a depiction of the Pearl Harbor bombing. I liked it because they blew up a lot of stuff. I unfortunately got really sun burnt but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. We then went to Show-me’s for dinner and watched the end of some good foosball games then went to Paddyo’s to celebrate another Cards walkoff hit to win the game. I was super close to not going to Paddyos and calling it a day but I love that place and immediately woke up as soon as I got there. I stayed there for a pretty long time then went back to my place to get ready to meet up with the Wash U folks at Bar Louie. It was a good time. It seems like I committed to Chicago for Halloween so I guess I need a costume. I rounded out the night with some Pepper Lounge.

Sunday was boring. I slept some but then watched football along with enjoyed the start of the new Fall lineup. I was not impressed with Bored to Death. I can’t wait for Dexter and Californication next week!

Weeds on Showtime

This used to be my favorite show but has seemed to go downhill recently. The whole Mexican mafia and preggo Nancy storyline isn’t as exciting as the earlier seasons when she was a pure drug dealer. It also seems like they have more Kevin Nealon in this season but his scenes are not as funny as they have been in the past.

Hung on HBO

This show seems pretty appealing to me. It has a funny storyline and feel like it has potential but I doubt it will make it past the first season based on reviews.

NYC Prep on Bravo

Even though I can not get this in HD, this show is right up my alley. Its like a real version of the OC so of course I am watching it. This is even better because I love the stupid stuff that comes out of these kids mouths.

Entourage on HBO

Always one of my favorite shows. I almost see this show as a fake celebrity version of Seinfeld since it is basically a show about nothing. I was a little worried

True Blood on HBO

They really changed the storyline this season. It seems like almost everyone is some kind of “freak.” The thing that I am the most curious about this show is the Tara storyline and why that woman is so interested in her.

Nurse Jackie on Showtime

An entertaining series and I am sure it will be picked up for another season.

Kings on NBC

I think this is the most underrated show on TV. It started on Sundays then got pushed back to Saturdays then eventually got put on hiatus then back on Saturdays in the summer. I like this show because of the characters. Especially Al Swearengin aka Ian McShane (from Deadwood). Unfortunately, I don’t see this show being picked up.

Harper’s Island on CBS

I started watching this show and then let it build up to about 10 episodes on my DVR after I got bored. Fortunately and to my surprise, the show got more interesting as the season went on for the mere fact that I wanted to know who the killer was. Not sure if this was intended to be a 1 season series but I know who the killer(s) are so not expecting to see this one back.

Merlin on NBC

Its saved on my DVR and I have watched a couple episodes but just can not get into it.

Shows that worked there way back with this crazy Saturday night lineup without me even knowing

• Eli Stone – Another one of my favorites that is set to be canceled.
• Dirty Sexy Money – Another ABC favorite of mine. It is basically a fake version of what we see on TMZ. Not sure why this did not make it.
• Better off Ted – A really funny comedy. Not sure why it is struggling. I know Dan B likes it because its has scientists.
• I’ll put Kings and Harper’s Island on this list too since they basically suffered the same fate but not as long as hiatus as the two shows above.

• Am I going to get an sleep on this lake trip? Probably not but it will be a great time.
• Is the Allstar Game really going to make the town insanely crazy. The city sent out a letter to all companies within the city limits to try to reschedule any deliveries to and from your facility to reduce traffic. Really? Is there going to be millions of people driving around? Are companies going to deliberately lose money by not shipping products? Who ever wrote that should be fired for being an idiot.
• Finallly scored free Cards tickets and they are very good. Many thanks to KJ.
• My whole idea of getting in better shape for this trip went down the drain when I got sick. I tried to workout tonight but only lasted about 6 sets.
• My sholders and chest are still peeling from last week. I am really confused. I barely got burnt. Maybe I have a skin eating disease.
• Still loving the great deals I got on Sunday. Sounds like I came extremely close to buying a similar swimsuit as another guy going on the trip. That would have been a distaster. We already have a problem of all wearing white or black shirts every time we go out … lol.
• Has anyone watched the NYC Prep show? I just found out about it today. Sounds right up my alley but I can’t get it in HD so not sure if I can stand to watch standard definition.
• Looking forward to both the start of our sand volleyball league and baskeball league (for me) next week. Thanks for Sarah N. for designing the shirt. I came up with both funny names. Boutros Boutros Volley for vball and Boom Boom Pau for Bball. The bball name is a play of words for the Black Eyed Peas song but we will have a picture of Pau Gasol (of the World Champion Lakers)  instead of Pow.

First off, I did not get to see this episode until Friday so I kept seeing everyone comments about the episode. To me, the episode had extremely high hopes. I did not see one comment from anyone that said it delivered the answered we were searching. Everyone said it was good (which is not very good in my eyes) to it proposed more questions than it answered (typical Lost). With that said, I do not know what they were watching because I thought the episode was amazing. The writers could have seriously ended the series in this episode (Carnivale style) and I would have been okay with it.

• The major revelation of the episode and the entire show was that there are two “Jacob” style man on the island. Plus, people keep coming to the island and fighting each other throughout time. The real kicker to the other Jacob that most are referring to Man #2 is that he found a loop hole in the system in which he could kill Jacob. He did that by appearing as apparitions to the survivors to get them to do what he wanted. I believe this included Kate’s unicorn, Jack’s dad, Locke on the island the second time, and many more. The only two apparitions I am questioning is if Hurley was seeing dead people and if Man #2 is also Smokey. I think Man #2 was the dead people Hurley was talking to thus why he told him in the cab that he was not crazy.
• Man #2 looked to bring Locke back alive when his father threw him out of the building thus explaining how he lived so a huge fall.
• I liked the back stories with Jacob meeting all the survivors thought their lives. The stupid thing on my part is that I did not realize that was Jacob. I must have been too tired.
• I am going to miss hot Juliet. I do think she is dead. She had been wearing a red shirt alot which supposedly is a sign that she is going to die plus she did not meet Jacob in her flashback. Her flashback seemed to actually portray that she needs to learn to “take one for the team” thus another reason why she would be dead.
• The good vs evil question in my mind was finally answered. Jacob seems to be the good along with basically everyone on the island except Man #2.
• Vincent, Rose, and her husband were back like promised. I expect this to be the end of them. It was a nice quick way to get their storyline finished so everyone would quit asking about where they were. Plus, I am pretty sure that Rose is one of the detectives Mom’s in Southland. The only thing peculiar about the exchange was the comment about the tea between Rose’s husband and Juliet. Not sure what was going on there. Are they really dead?
• We finally knows what lies in the shadow of the statue … it is Jacob. I am surprised to see that no one theorized that early.
• It turns out that Man #2 was the person in the cabin all along and not Jacob. What does this mean about Claire? Also, was Hurley the one that let his escape by disrupting the gun powder ring where he ran away from this place? Hurley really is cursed and brings only bad things with him.

Overall, I was deeply disappointed in this episode. The reason being that it was thought that it was going to be a “Richard-centric” episode which it was not. I along with others had all these ideas running through our head about how we were going to finally find out at least some of the mysteries behind Richard. Unfortunately, all we got was a remark about him being very old and that he was like a spiritually guide in finding the leader. Two things that most real Lost fans had already figured out. The episode had no real big wows unless you consider Locke telling Ben that he was going to kill Jacob. I did not because I am not sure that Jacob is even a real person even though we supposedly seen him in past episodes. You would think that Jack’s dad is Jacob now or even the possibility that Locke has become the new “Jacob” in which he is going to “kill” him by disproving the fact that he exists.

Here are some of my other thoughts:

• Don’t watch the previews to the episodes which are hard since ABC shows them all the time in commercials. Why do I say that? In this past episode, you could already tell the bomb was in the tombs. Everyone thought it was in the temple but it turned out to be under the barracks. Same difference to me. I guess that came to a surprise to some but not me. The second being that the episode preview for next week showed Sawyer talking to Jack. Obviously something happens for them to get off the sub (which by the way had super cheesy CGI in its departure scene).
• Of course Kate does not want everything to reset back to normal if Jack is successful. If that happens, she would go to jail thus the tiff with Jack.
• I did think that Kate was actually shot in which I was excited for the mere shock value. But she did not which actually took more of the luster out of the episode.
• What is in the guitar case that Hurley is carrying around? Is it a submachine gun…lol. Doubt he could get that past the security checkpoint at LAX.
• I at least like that Sawyer toyed with the idea of he had a master plan on the sub when he said “we are not going back to Ann Arbor.” Instead he just said we could go anywhere in the world; besides the island.
• There now seems to a divided group in the Dharma clan which I assume is why the incident still occurs.
• Why did Daniel’s mom not take her son to the Temple to save him like Richard did for Ben? Is it because her baby’s daddy did not let her thus why they do not talk to each other anymore?
• I did like the scene with present day Locke telling Richard what to tell flashing Locke. It potentially might be the biggest scene of the episode. I think this because it might actually be leading us down the path that no one really has “super power” but instead keeps getting information passed down to them from “flashing” people who are on the island. We have already seen this a lot with Ellie thus why she did not know what was going to happen anymore in 2008.

I hope this 2 hour finale next week is amazing. I am hoping that it does not end on the incident. I would like to see some results of the incident. I can not wait another year to find more info.

Everyone seems to think this was a mind blowing episode. To me, an avid Lost fan, this seemed like a pretty predictable episode except for a few parts. I guess the show does have to start wrapping things up at some point. The one thing that I have no clue what is going on is the deal with the Statue people. Who is this potential third group and when are we going to find out more about them? I sure hope we don’t have to wait till next season.

• I sure hope no one thought it was a surprise to find that Widmore was Faraday’s father. I pretty much thought this was a given once we found out that the connections with Eloise and that she was on the island.
• I along with other writers had theorized that Faraday was going to die soon because his story was coming to an end. I did not expect it to be this episode but was not surprised. What I am surprised is how it happened. Why did he go in all gun slinging and making threats? He was one person surrounded by everyone with guns? What were we to expect? I sure didn’t think that he was going to kill Richard.
• The interesting thing about Faraday and his mom is that it almost seems like she knows her past and that she killed her own son. It is a weird time loop that has been discussed a lot this year. Does not make a lot of sense yet.
• I have no clue what is going to happen to Sawyer and group. From the previews it looks like they are being sent back to the sub. Why are they just not executed? I do not think they will get on the sub so it makes me believe that it is possibly that we will skip back to 2008 the next time we see them.
• Why is Faraday losing his mind? Is it because he exposed himself to high radiation?
• The whole H-bomb concept is very interesting. Obviously Faraday did not know how Jack and the 05 got back so he is not part of the Statue cult. But it was theorized that he would be the island’s demise. I do not see it happening.
• We also found out that Widmore did stage the crash which I also hope everyone already knew.
• Why did Miles just not agree that he was his son? Does it have bad consequences if he knows that?
• There is a lot of talk about the Comicon video with Mile’s now revealed Dad. Was it Miles or Faraday shooting the video? It was after the incident so how could it be Faraday?
• I am not happy with the possibly cheesy way of them blowing the island up and everything resetting. As I said this would not happen but this would be such a cop out. They could do that next episode and the show could be over basically. Thus why it is not going to happen.

Weekend

I went to our first Cardinals game of the season with the group. Our seats are in the back row in the lower bowl by the right field foul pole. They are pretty good seats. They would be especially good if it happened to rain since we are under the overhang. I did drink way too much that night. We went to Paddy O’s afterwards for a little bit then went to Rue 13 for 80’s night. It was an extremely late night. I stayed in Saturday night because of that. I watched Doubt. I was not impressed. My streak of seeing bad movies continues.

Blues

The first Blues playoff game was a disappointment. I was not that familiar with Vancouver before last night’s game. I was really upset and insulted when I saw that every ESPN analyst picked Vancouver to win (most in 5 games). I did not know that Vancouver was on a similar hot streak as the Blues plus they have a super hot goalie. The Blues did not have a lot of pressure on Luongo but he did make excellence saves (as Mason did also) that provided Vancouver with the win. Overall it was a very entertaining game due to its feistiness. Jackman was really getting in the middle of everything. I believe the Blues downfall that game was not scoring on the 2 man advantage and only scoring on 1 of the many powerplays. I am also very scared of the Sedin twins. That line was skating circle around us with the help of Demitra. I thought all along that we only needed to win 1 of the first two games due to our great home crowd.

Lost

Last nights episode of Lost was pretty entertaining. Like other people have indicated, these past 3 episodes all seem to be setup episodes for something greater to come. Unfortunately, we will not find out for another two weeks since there is a “clip show” next week. Below are my thoughts on the episode:

• Widmore did not hire “the Shadow of the Statue” people. I am going with the idea that they are the original people from the island. My only problem that contradicts this is that I think Richard is part of this group. I read an interesting theory that Richard is not on any side and is basically an intermediary that tries to help the “sides.”
• Miles is the son of Dr Chang. The weird possibility about this finding is that it is possible that Miles tells Dr Chang that the Purge is coming which basically saves his life and his mothers.
• Hurley is starting to be one of my favorite characters. He really is funny plus he says what everything is thinking and writing about in the various Lost blogs.
• Faraday did not go crazy. He must have gone back on the sub when Sawyer and Juliet had the chance 3 years ago. What I found weird about his moment was how cocky he appeared when he said hi to Miles.
• Pretty awesome that one of the workers died by basically having is whole filling pulled out of his head via his brain courtesy of the giant unknown magnet.

Random Thoughts

• Why do I have this cold (or whatever it is)? It is the worst timing.
• I am not sure about my fantasy team. The hitters stepped it up big time this week but my pitching still seems to be my weakness even though it should be my strong point. I only have the two Cy Young award winners from last year and a bunch of other great pitchers and closers.
• Only 4 sessions (2 weeks) left in grad school forever!
• I am not pleased with my phone. I have extreme memory leakage. I am confused about several things. I am reading forums about other peoples Bolds and they are talking about 128MB of memory where I only have 28 after a restart and goes down to 0 by the end of the day. I am only running WeatheEye, Twitterberry, Facebook, and Google Maps as of right now. I seem to be a lot worse than everybody else. I am going to probably exchange it for a new one if the backup feature in Blackberry Desktop allows me to easily transfer all my stuff from one to another.

TV Shows

We have been treated to a lot of new shows in the past two or three weeks. Below is what I am watching.

Tudors – I am watching this show just because there is not much else on Sundays lately. I gave up on it last year. It is okay but I am not sure how a show like this could get renewed when Rome, Deadwood, and Carnivale can not.

Unusuals and Southland – The thing that upsets me about these two cop shows is that both main characters have a rich past. We haven’t got the full details in Southland but it sounds like his daddy is rich too. So basically the only difference is that one is based in LA and the other New York … imagine that. Unusuals has more of an interesting storyline and I prefer ABC shows so this is my favorite so far. I also have branded the OC guy in Southland with his image from OC so I have a hard time taking him seriously.

Better of Ted – I did not like the first episode but I have grown to love this show. It really is funny. I like their fake commercials. With that said, I do not expect this show to make it.

Surviving Suburbia – I watch this show only because of Bob Saget. It has its funny moments but this show will not make it past the first season.

Kings – By far the best new show on TV. It has everything I like. I also like “Al Swearengen” in this role.

Chuck is not canceled but it is rumored that it might not make it to a 3rd season. Here is a petition to make sure it does not.Please sign it if you are a Chuck fan and want to continue watching this show. What is not to like about this show? It has hot women, action, and a lot of technology jokes.