A look back at my crazy obsession with Windows Media Center and HTPCs in general and look ahead to how I'll be doing things in the future.
Like Father, Unlike Son
Boba Fett works for all the reasons that Jango Fett - and by proxy, the prequel story arc - fails. He's not trying to be cool, but he just is. He's not the focus of Episode V, but he steals every scene he's in. The fact that he's a bounty hunter makes complete sense, given the …
Coming Attractions
<rant> Ok, time for a quick gripe about my cable provider, Comcast. Not a gripe about their overall service per se, but the TV Guide channel and their misuse of said channel. See, I have basic non-digital cable service; you know, the no-frills package. I get about 70 channels, and at any given time, about …
What about Al?
Following the unexpected death of pop idol Michael Jackson, everyone is so concerned about his kids, his estate, and his family. But I’d suggest there’s a forgotten victim of this tragedy: Weird Al Yankovich. Much of Al’s early career was built on parodies of Jackson’s popular songs. For a time, he was known as a …
Man in the mirror
It’s hard not to sound cliché when writing a post about Michael Jackson. Let’s be honest, on the freaky scale of 1 to 10, the dude was about a 14. Amid allegations of child molestation, the evolution of his bizarre appearance, and his eccentric behavior over the last 20 years, it’s almost hard to remember …
Who are you?
I think the FCC needs to reprimand NBC regarding its use of the term “celebrity” in the title of its summer reality TV series, I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here. OK, that looks like Sanjaya with a Mohawk and maybe one the lesser Baldwins on the end. Does anyone know who the hell …
Bring me the head of JJ Abrams
This weekend, my lovely wife and I ventured to our local Regal Cinemas, plunked down some $25 bucks for a pair of matinee tickets and snacks, and settled in to watch – neigh, absorb – Star Trek, the eagerly anticipated film in which director JJ Abrams supposedly “reboots” the original series. If you haven’t yet …
The force is not strong with these people
I’m not one to just post a bunch of embedded YouTube links on my blog, but I’m actually pretty busy today, and these were just too good to ignore. I’m a Star Wars super-freak (was there ever a question), so I’m partial to anything goofy that’s even remotely related to the franchise. So, without further …
Continue reading "The force is not strong with these people"
The pretender
Jackson Browne is easily my favorite singer/songwriter. Perhaps he's not the most obvious choice for someone of my age, but in the last few years, I've really come to identify with his music. Browne has been called "a thinking man's rock star," with introspective, literate, and often deeply personal lyrics. No other artist is able …
Fighting ingorance
For years I have enjoyed the column The Straight Dope by Cecil Adams, which regularly appears in the Chicago Reader. Cecil answers all sorts of readers' questions, ranging from the mundane to the obscene. No matter how ridiculous the question, the column always attempts to answer it earnestly (often with tongue firmly planted in cheek). …