Kimputer's Weblog

Last time I asked myself, with the bizzy TV schedule I had, if that actually constitutes as an addiction. Now a few months later, I still have time to fit in at least one hour of Counter-Strike: Source online gaming ! Well, THAT answers that question then, not ?
Anyways, here’s an updated list for what YOU should follow if you do not want to drop in the same pitfall of addiction as me:

The MUST-SEE !
Jack and Bobby
Lost
CSI
Smallville
Alias
24
Unscripted
Huff

The Good:
Monk
King of the Hill
Committed
Boston Legal
Everwood

The Sometimes (in that order according to extra time to kill):
NCIS
Kevin Hill
Joey
CSI:NY
Veronica Mars

The Try-out Bench (new series):
Numb3rs

The Axed (either cancelled by the network or dismissed by me):
Star Trek: Enterprise
Point Pleasant
Medium
House
Father of the Pride
Johnny Zero
Desperate Housewives
Medical Investigation
Last Comic Standing
Hawaii
Clubhouse
Drawn Together

The Wait
Blind Justice (new ABC)
Grey’s Anatomy (new ABC)
The Office (new NBC version)

South Park (season 9)
Tru Calling (season 2)
The Dead Zone (season 4)
Battlestar Galactica (season 2)

Off to watch some more TV it is. Intermingled with a bit of Counter-Strike. Naturally.

Everything you expected from the first half (see old review), you get back in the second half. And more. Ending with another two-parter, it proves to be one of the best entries this year, for TV in general. Successfully combining action, drama, politics and even a bit of faith and religion into a highly compacted short season, and still there are no cut corners to be found. Every episodes stands on its own, with a greath wealth of depth, while keeping your heart rate up, and your mouth in the “Aww!” position. With a nasty cliffhanger to boot, the only sad thing will be the waiting for season 2 (filming confirmed, air date not).

Another branch of the alternative programming of Fox, it’s a mix of Charmed and Baywatch with a more serious overtones, but geared to the teen demographics. Outline might have been interesting (Daughter of Satan and human female washes up on the shore of high class suburban town, who will try to find her destiny and mother in the future episodes), but the choppy dialogue and story development can’t be consealed by high production value (directing, production design etc.). You can clearly see where it’s headed, and the umpteenth seduction scene or where something devilish happens isn’t really what I’m waiting for.
As I got my plate full as it is, with a few more upcoming new series on the way, I just don’t have time to wait for the writers to settle in (they had enough time on the pilot, don’t you think).

As I mentioned earlier, new ice cream taster is my second third fourth and fifth middle name, but somehow, this one slipped under the radar for more than a month now. The supermarket put in the lower parts of the freezer, and hence I missed it.
So, what do two proven flavors do combined ? It’s the usual sum of all parts equation. It’s marvelous !
The chocolate Hertog part is creamy as usual, and soft as well. The flavor is deep and lasting. Then the Toblerone parts add a different kind of sweet, and the extra texture to makes it as addictive as the sum of all parts equation would have calculated. I.e., it’s quite dangerous.8+.

Ice Cube, rapper/writer turned movie star/producer, is now in the habit of freezing the number one spot for himself when it’s time. He follows the success of the Barbershop series with a new comedy, Are We There Yet ?, with $18.5 million. Apparently, we’re not quite there yet, as he takes over the XXX franchise, the movie opening in a few weeks.
Coach Carter isn’t tired yet, but fatigue is definitly there, at number 2 with $11 million. At number 3, the Focker family has garnered a small fortune now, another week of $10.2 million (with the total standing at $248 million).
Sticking at number four is In Good Company, with $8.5 million. Rounding off the top five is Racing Stripes, looking like it’s going to give up the race, and dropping two places, with $7.1 million.

Yimou Zhang follows Hero quickly with another show of drama with a dash of old fashioned tragedy and breath-taking martial arts. Lost is the intricate perspective storytelling, but the stylised directing style is still there. A simple story to start with will slowly complicate itself, while many key scenes will slowly work itself under your skin. Again, this is accomplished by timing dialogue, giving every scene texture with colors, subtle sound effects and an underlying dramatic score. This makes every scene having a poetic feel to it.
Again, helping this movie a few grades up is the mesmerising beautiful Ziyi Zhang, playing another complex and emotionally laden (at least, under the surface) role, effectively elbowing her way into the many upcoming leading actress awards for this year.8.

Rate 1 (sucks) to 5 (cool). Only rate the latest pictures, otherwise I can’t keep track of the average.

Total: 685 out of 211 votes > Average is: 3.246

I could use some user input on these future innovative endeavors, y’know.

Another new entry on the Fox line-up, from E.R.’s John Wells, and the evenly seasoned Mimi Leder. This usually means gripping drama with excellent acting, but with Mimi Leder out of control behind the camera (trying out fast paced action), and actors just out of their diapers, it’s chaotic at best. Very unlikely for me to quit after one episode (I usually give them at least 3 chances), but this series shows no promise. No acting, no drama, flimsy action. Story line shows nothing great to be expected. It seems the creators are too eager to sell this to Fox, totally disregarding the high quality shown in their previous shows.

NBC’s first 2005 entry, is, no pun intended, very medium. Starring Patricia Arquette as a psychic who still doesn’t understand her powers, she helps the D.A.’s office solve crimes. To complement that part, episodes also focus on her family life, supposedly adding depth and realism. How far from the opposite can you get. Dialogue and acting is somehow (still can’t figure out if it’s the writers, producers, actors or director’s fault) flat and has a VERY fake feeling to it. Stories so far are a rehash of believer/non-believer stories, very reminiscent to Fox and Scully. On top of that, the opening theme is a complete rip-off of that same show. C’mon, change a few notes, we’re not deaf, y’know.
Anyway, it’s clear this show can be a small hit if it depends on the usually non-demanding NBC viewers. But it definitely holds nothing special for me to keep on watching.

The lazy dude with the strange nickname thinks I’ve got nothing better to do while I’m working. How ver introvert-ish !
Ah well, it’ s something about a chain mail thingy with weblogs. I don’t do nonsense like that (same for real snail mail and e-mail), but then again, I do try to keep this junkyard updated daily.

So here goes:

Total bits’n’bytes of music accumulated on your pc ?

Well, PC is at home, so I’ll take the slightly un-updated mirror here at work: 7.708.535.664 in 1369 files. Luckily the question was not about the music stored on the backup cd’s and dvd’s (as those are spread out, and contain songs I don’t listen to).

Last bought CD ?

Mad Season by Matchbox Twenty in May 2000. I even asked the MediaMarkt to reserve one for me. (Impatient as I was, on the release date, I went to the other MediaMarkt in town, and when I was about to pay, I received a call the CD was in. They didn’t mind I was buying from their colleagues)

Last song heard before reading the “questionnaire” ?

I’m at work, so that would mean I would have to remember the song I was playing when I hibernated my PC at home last night. And that, I’m not gonna do. So lemme un-hibernate my notebook here and wait… U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday

4 Songs you listen a lot to or mean a lot to you ?

Well, that’s just plain mean. So I’ll just pick one, and explain it, and be done with this question.

Goo Goo Dolls – Name

When listening to this song, you will realise it’s actually about how the x-generation fits in, and being the first generation (born here, or second, living here) Chinese mob, I can very well identify with the lyrics. Every single line is powerful and meaningful, for instance “We don’t belong to no one, and that’s a shame” and “Scars are souvenirs you never lose”. That woven into a multi-layered acoustic set, that kicks into a pretty wild riff at time-index 3:16, means it’s not only a story, it’s a story well-told.

Hah, and you really think I’d do this for FOUR SONGS, WHILE AT WORK ??

Which 5 persons do you force to continue this ridicule and why ?

Why is simple, I don’t even know that many. So I’m throwing a few that will end up on my own server again, so
Tienz, catch ! And Ez, catch too !
Throwing one to another lazy ass, Mr T. (who supposedly got Apache MySQL and PHP running a while ago, MWHHAAHA. He’ll probably start a weblog in, like… 2010).
And a few random ones, to Araphor. And … uhmm, can’t think of something else. Ah well, doesn’t matter, even if it’s 2 or 3, it’s still exponential growth, and saturation will happen anytime soon now.

Samuel L. Jackson’s headlined basketball drama Coach Carter throws a 3 pointer, scoring the first place with a $23.6 million opener. The Fockers, however, is still a family to be reckoned with, $19.0 million for a number 2 spot.
Kid movie Racing Stripes opens at nr. 3 with $14 million. A close finish, as In Good Company, a drama comedy starring Dennis Quaid and Scarlett Johansson, ends up one place lower with $13.9 million.
Not so electrifying is Elektra, rounding off the top 5 with just $12.5 million (while the previous heroine, Catwoman, showing more skin, did slightly better, with $16.7 million).

…that’s always the question. Every night. So when there’s a new brand of ice cream out there, I’m the first to try.
The new entry this time, is from Mona, branded as scoop-ready right out of the freezer. The 650 ml (almost 3 euros for this tiny bucket) has a few flavors, and mine was peach. Just like justice, this review can be swift and hence, short. The scoop-ready part is true. The taste however, is like the most cheap brands. Somewhat synthetic. There is some milky-ness and creamy-ness, but it’s definitely not ice cream. And the texture is a bit slimey and thick-ish. The only thing positive I can think about, is that it may be suitable for people on a diet, as only a small cup will already be heavy on the stomach. Then again, people on a diet shouldn’t eat ice cream.
So, if you love your taste buds dearly, steer clear of this one. Better put in a bit of energy into the scooping, and have the real deal.4-.

First timer (director and writer) Zach Braff (topliner of NBC’s Scrubs) makes a critical acclaimed debut, though it’s not the life altering experience that happens in the movie. It’s kind of clear Zach drives on his own youth and experiences, as the dialogues are well thought out. Laced with a deeper emotional layer, it’s acted out by a steller cast. Kudos for Natalie Portman, and supporting castmembers like Ian Holm and Peter Saarsgard. With not everything out in the open, and a few questions left unanswered, it’s not a heavy drama. The light comedy balanced it out to be just a sweet little movie. All in all, a worthy competitor in the independent movie market, but it missed the edge to make it really special.7+.

A typical low-budget scare fest, where everything happens just like you’d expect it to. Or at least, most of it.
And what better way to start a movie with a mysterious death ? And what better way to continue a movie with more and more of those ? Being a copy of a 2000 Japanese video release, Sam Raimi must’ve thought it was extremely good, or just extremely well-suited for the Americans, with a few minor changes (bringing in youngsters like Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jason Behr for teen appeal). Keeping the director in place gives the movie a nice signature, though in this genre, it’s not that unique. Just quickly flash a shadow in the background, a few fades in the window or mirror, mix in a few screechy screams, and you’re pretty much there. The story has a backstory to tell, but that’s more or less for the usual half explanatory reasons than real depth.
If you’re into this genre, it’s definitely a go. If not, you might wanna hold on till its rental run.6.

You know the saying, a day not counter-striked, is a day not lived. And I had a light migraine yesterday. Go figure.