Here it is, my official Top Ten television shows of spring 2008 list:
1.Lost, Thurs.’s on ABC. The epic mythological/sci-fi/philosophical storyline is incredible.
2.The Big Bang Theory, Mon.’s on CBS. I’m glad this show is back, it’s easily the best new comedy on television.
3.Ghost Hunters, Wed.’s on Sci-Fi. Much better than it’s spinoff – Ghost Hunters International.
4.Two and a Half Men, Mon.’s on CBS. In an age of reality TV crap, you got to give props to the few good comedies.
5.The Simpsons, Sun.’s on Fox. Still great after almost 20 years.
6.South Park, Wed.’s on Comedy Central. Still offensive, still funny, still makes a point sometimes. The comedy Family Guy wishes it was. The past week’s episode was a tribute to the movie Heavy Metal, and is a classic episode.
7.Family Guy, Sun.’s on Fox. Hey it’s a good show, not quite as funny as South Park though.
8.Meet the Press, Sun.’s on NBC. In a sea of crappy political analysts like Lou Dobbs and Chris Matthews, Tim Russert is our life preserver of common sense and good commentary.
9.Top Chef, Wed.’s on Bravo. The one reality show that I do watch.
10.Chowder, on Cartoon Network. I’m including this show because it’s some of the most imaginative, creative, stylistic animation I’ve seen in a long time.
(note – some shows like The Office were left off the list because they haven’t had any new episodes even since the writer’s strike ended.)
This debate happening in the media about whether Hillary Clinton should drop out of the presidential race or not really sickens me. Of course she should not drop out of the race. It smacks of all the ‘boys’ telling ‘the little missy’ that she needs to ‘run along home now’. America is mature enough to elect Barack it seems, but not mature enough to give a woman an equal shot at running.
First of all, as far has the Michigan and Florida debate go, I think that Obama is being unfair. This isn’t something that she’s saying now like a lot of people are implying, that she wants to change the rules after the game has started. She DID leave her name on the ballot in Michigan and Florida, she wanted the votes to count all along. She DOES have momentum after Ohio and Texas and now probably she’s going to win Pennsylvania by a substantial margin. Obama’s team of lawyers put an end to the prospect of redoing Florida or Michigan. Why? because he’s scared, because he knows he would lose, so call in the lawyers – right? That doesn’t sit well with me, using lawyers to back out of an unpopular situation without even an attempt at an honest compromise.
Don’t get me wrong, I have respect for Barack and will support him over McCain. (Although I know that a lot of more moderate democrats will vote for McCain if Barack wins the nomination.) But to use your team of lawyers and network of support to push a woman around and force her out of the race is ridiculous. Especially when she has momentum and a good chance of winning most of the remaining states. To rail her daughter with questions of her dad’s infidelity is obscene, this is an event that honestly pushed me back towards supporting Hillary over Barack.
America has matured a lot it seems, but not enough to give a woman an honest shot at winning the election. Let her finish the race and stop persecuting her and her daughter – that’s obscene in my book any way you look at it.
KU wins 59-57 in a heart pounding performance, and is going to the Final Four. But Davidson’s Stephen Curry was all CBS could talk about before this game and during, not even showing KU players hardly before the game. What disrespect, especially has KU holds him to a tournament low 25 points. Even in the post-game coverage the focus was on Curry. Well I guess it was nice to see him almost cry, and they won’t be talking about you next week, that’s for sure. His performance and Bryant Barr’s for Davidson was all they had. You could even see Curry’s teammates not even really trying to shoot, always looking for him.
KU played it perfectly, putting the pressure on Curry’s teammates who dropped the ball, literally, a few times. In The final play Curry really blew it by not taking the last shot. They didn’t even need a 3 to tie, but hey, KU will take it. Like I said, they put the pressure on Curry’s teammates and they didn’t get it done. KU won because they are truly a team, Brandon Rush, Mario Chalmers, Russell Robinson, Sasha Kaun, Darnell Jackson, Sherron Collins, Darrell Arthur too many to name. THIS is the team that is going to the final four baby; Rooooooock Chaaaaaaaaaaalk JAY Haaaaaaaaaaawk, KU!
I’m happy KU won obviously, but for another reason also. This way I don’t sound like I’m crying when I say just how one-sided not only the media coverage was, but the refereeing also. Curry definitely had leeway, drawing offensive fouls when he wasn’t even close to being set defensively, and drawing fouls when KU barely even brushed him. I got to give credit to KU coach Bill Self who remained relatively calm during the sad, obviously preferential refereeing that Davidson was getting. Time after time our guy hits the floor and no call, while every time we come close to them we get called. That was some serious bull-honkey.
So I’m glad we won so I can call the refs out and CBS without sounding like I am whining. But, more importantly, KU is in the final four. Bill Self can sleep easier now that his job is secure for maybe as long has he wants it. It’s his first final four and he deserves it more than anyone else. He is a class act with incredible patience and he should enjoy this. We just ended Davidson’s 25 game winning streak and Curry’s string of 30 pt. performances, and now it’s on to face our old coach Roy Williams and his North Carolina squad in the Final Four. Go KU!
My art gallery site edsartworkshop.com has finally been redone and is up! It took me forever to finish it but the new version is a lot more clean and professional looking, (and the html code is a lot more universal than the old site too, it looks good in various browsers.) It has a lot more art posted also, and a lot more to be posted in the near future. Each piece of art can be clicked on for a bigger version with details like size, and materials used, and check out the slideshows also.
Here is the Ed’s Official Top Ten Movies of All Time List. They ARE in order of my favorite, #1 being the best.
Dead Man, starring Johnny Depp, Directed by Jim Jarmusch. A mystical western with absolutely no wasted space. Every inch of this film is a well-crafted, well acted masterpiece. Beautiful black & white cinematography with a soundtrack by Neil Young takes this film over the top.
Edward Scissorhands, directed by Tim Burton, starring Depp, and Winona Ryder.
Basquiat, starring Jeffrey Wright, David Bowie as a dead-on Warhol, Benicio Del Toro, and a whole lot of other good actors. Directed by Julian Schnabel. Rarely does a film capture a time, place, and people as perfectly as this film does.
The Saragossa Manuscript, a movie that makes you rethink how time & space can warp, set in Spain. A black & white film from 1965.
Star Wars, the entire 6 movies I’m counting as one entry. Together they weave the greatest modern myth the world has seen.
Lord of the Rings, also counting these 3 as one entry. Tolkien is the master and creator of modern fantasy.
Mulholland Dr., directed by David Lynch. Lynch’s films are like a dream that you can’t quite ever understand or control, but you love the ride anyways.
E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, directed by Steven Spielberg. What can I say, my initials are E.T., and I was like 5 when I saw it. It’s the first movie I remember seeing, and the scene with E.T. in the shed in the beginning still haunts me.
Wizards, from 1977. Directed by Ralph Bakshi. An animation style like Bakshi’s has never been seen before or ever will be again. Dark, touching, fantastical, mysterious, this movie is a testament to his genius.
Life is Beautiful, directed by and starring Roberto Benigni. A very well written story, and an excellently crafted movie.
There you have it, the ten greatest films of all time, you’re welcome.
Phish,…… where did you go? I’ve seen them live 10 times and it wasn’t nearly enough. They had their own special kind of magic, and for anyone who saw them live, you know this is true. It’s been a few years already since they broke up, and you got to admire the courage it took for the guys to walk away from it. For a lot of reasons it was the right decision, but that doesn’t mean all the Phish-heads out there aren’t a little sadder because of it.
Trey Anastasio has his own solo career, and I hope this living legend makes music until he’s a very old man and then some. Page McConnell, the greatest piano player/keyboardist I have ever heard, released a self-titled solo album last year. The bass and heart of the group Mike Gordon has been really active playing various festivals and with different people. The very awsome, tye-dyed muumuu wearing Fishman, still shakes his sticks now and again but isn’t currently very active.
Not really any special reason for this post, other than a tribute to one of if not the greatest bands I’ve ever had the privilege to see. Any fellow Phish fans out there who might read this, give me a shout, I’d love to hear from you.
Rumble Fighter Video – It’s my guy – Ghoststalker fighting fellow player IGotSkillz. I’m going to do some better ones with sound and soundtracks, check out some of the other ones by other players, below this one. The game Rumble Fighter (OGplanet.com) is a good waste of time with some intense 3-d fighting action.
To turn off the music, scroll down to the slideshow and hit the radio button in it a couple of times. To turn on more music, hit the sonific widget to your right.
As a lover of the game Dungeons & Dragons, and all of it’s offshoots in various forms, I’m saddened to hear that the inventor of the game Gary Gygax has passed on. For anyone that ever spent hours upon hours in friend’s basements exploring the realms of Middle Earth and beyond, this is a sad day indeed.
I never understood some parent’s opposition to the game. It is a social game that inspires creativity, math skills, imagination, writing, strategy and more, much better than just vegetating in front of the television. Speaking of TV though, Gygax in addition to co-inventing the game, also produced a short-lived television show in 1985 based on the game. He also created many more games like Dangerous Journeys and Legendary Adventures.
He is and will always be a hero to us fantasy genre nerds, and is undoubtedly a giant in the realm. We lost the Wheel of Time series writer Robert Jordan last year, and now Gary Gygax, – not a great couple of years for fantasy. Created in the mid 70’s, Dungeons & Dragons eventually was sold to TSR, and then to it’s current owner – Wizards of the Coast. It has seen many forms including Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, and AD&D versions 2, 2.5, 3 and the current 3.5 edition rules, and spawned thousands of similar games. The games Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 are the best current computer versions of the game, fully implementing WOTC’s 3.5 edition rules.
Mr. Gygax’s legacy is a huge one, and we will miss him very much. Here’s to you Gary, HUZZAH! May your soul rest in peace.
“The secret we should never let the gamemasters know is that they don’t need any rules.”
- Gary Gygax
Well, Hillary Clinton not only won Ohio, but did it by a substantial margin, 56 – 42% with 90% of the vote in. She wins Rhodes Island, and more importantly Texas as well, and in addition to California and New York, this gives her ALL of the big states. If there is a redo of Florida and Michigan, she would win those too. A strong case can be made that Hillary should be the nominee, no longer is this Obama’s race to lose.
You also cannot possibly say now, any of that nonsense about Hillary needing to drop out of the race. Why would somebody who has a clear majority in all of the most populated states drop out? If you look at the overall popular vote in these primaries, it paints her victories even stronger, the caucuses giving the edge to Obama in some districts despite the overall popular vote of the state.
One thing that really strikes me is that overwhelmingly in polls the number one issue for voters is the economy. If there is one thing that stands out about the 90’s it’s the budget surplus and a robust economy. Bill Clinton love him or hate him, is a wheeling, dealing businessman who gets the job done. Hillary has the potential to use that aspect of Bill’s and fuse it with her own more well-rounded vision. I trust Hillary over Barack with the economy in a New York minute, who wouldn’t? Either way though, the democrats are set, both Hillary and Obama are great candidates to lead this country.
All artwork and writing is copyright by Ed Tajchman. All rights reserved, any use at all must be taken up with Mr. Tajchman, including posting, copying, derivative works, everything. Violators will be prosecuted.
