This has been a pretty busy week - hence my lack of any important information here. Oh, nothing really important, just doing some picture scanning, some treadmilling and that sort of thing.
The picture thing: I have posted before that I have amassed over the years, a huge collection of pictures taken during the past 25 or so years. When we came into the digital age, I bought a scanner wear I could begin the tedious process of scanning in said pictures so they could be preserved, cropped, e-mailed, whatever. But, the technology when I got my first scanner was somewhat slow. I mean, really slow to the point that it took probably two full minutes to preview, scan, size, and save each picture. So there was no way I was going to sit there and scan pictures for an hour at a time and only get through a few sets. It ended up that I would just scan specific favorites that I wanted to send to family or use for projects.
As the technology has progressed and as I have gone through five or six different scanners, things have sped up and it is now worth the effort to scan even the ugly pictures. It is not unthinkable to scan 100 pictures in an hour or so.
So I have been busy with that and I'll be sure to share some more Random Photos with you.
The other thing that has taken a little bit of time from my usual blog-surfing and restaurant reviewing is the fact that I may have been doing a little too much blog-surfing and restaurant reviewing, and not enough of the treadmill walking.
Oh who am I kidding; have you seen my fat ass lately? At the 4th of July Parade, I think I nearly gave the little electric motor on the scooter a heart attack! So, following much good eats during the 4th of July weekend, my wife started me back on a more sensible diet. In other words, I'm not eating everything within grasp. And, of course, I am back on the treadmill.
My older brother told me about using the Wii Fit deal to lose an assload of weight. So we are also in the process of getting that little action going. But in the mean time, I'm hitting that treadmill and of course, watching Hulu while I do it.
My wife and I finished watching all the episodes of the British version of Life on Mars (loved it) and we have made it through all the episodes of the follow-up show to that, Ashes to Ashes (loving it). And this week when I fired up the treadmill, I finished watching the one and only season of Manhattan, AZ. (I loved it!)
That brings me to today. I just happened on to the season 1, episode 1 of Dead Like Me. I am hooked!
I know, you are saying to yourself, "Where has this guy been?" Several people have told me about this awesome show before, but to be honest, I only have so many allotted hours in a given day, and I just can't spend them all watching TV. But, when I do stumble upon something good, even if it is coming late to the party, I'll tell you about it.
So now you know.
Dave
Your Host
Showing posts with label Life on Mars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Life on Mars. Show all posts
Friday, July 10, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Life on Mars: The BBC Version...
You may recall me not being overly thrilled with the Americanized version of Life on Mars or more specifically, the way it ended. Well, as a few commenters on that post pointed out, there was a British version - the original if you will - that went for two seasons. What planet have I been on?
It isn't uncommon that my wife and I come to these TV shows late. For instance, we still have never seen a single episode of "24", and we had to go back and rent DVDs of The Sopranos to catch up on three or four seasons so we could watch the last episode along with the rest of the country. There is simply too much TV to try to find all of the good shows and stay up with them unless you are one of those people who walk in the door, glue your ass to the couch and don't move until the alarm goes off signaling it is time for work. The answer is A) getting recommendations from friends as to which shows are good and 2) not feeling bad if they give you bad info and simply moving on.
So, if I may be so bold as to implore you to go forth, get hit by a speeding car and wake-up in 2006, back when the British version of Life on Mars came out, and watch it.
A few caveats: First, based purely on production values (Americans tend to spend a lot of money in TV production, special effects, soundtrack and such), I totally preferred the American production of Life on Mars. Keep in mind, they had two things going for them. There was already an established story that worked, and secondly, Lost! is a huge hit and now, people seem to be a little more accepting of suspending reality an hour at a time.
In the American version of LOM, they really sold the fact that it was 1973 and thanks to Michael Imperioli as Det Ray Carling going all out with the 70's porn star look, you couldn't help but feel like you were watching Starsky & Hutch from time to time. And the music helped. The American version was all over the music in most scenes and if only for comedic value, there was a lot more references by Det. Sam Tyler to modern day. And finally, like most American shows filmed in NYC, they seem to have lots of extras walking around to make it appear real.
From the production stand point, the Brit version appeared to be filmed on a closed studio lot. I can only assume the BBC does not pay for huge productions where every scene is filled with 200 hundred extras wandering around, nor can they round up a fleet of 1970's vintage cars so as to allow a car chase scene to involve more than two vehicles - the one being chased and the one doing the chasing. For me, that was the most frustrating thing about watching the Bloke version; the fact that it did not share the same scenery, the same rich soundtrack and all those little extra things in the background that may or may not catch your eye the first time you see it, that really make you feel transformed to the era.
Okay, enough of the caveats. The Bloke version of LOM had a much more believable lead actor, John Simm as Sam Tyler. More importantly, the role of Sam's boss, Gene Hunt was played by a guy named Philip Glenister. Just looking at his bio, it would appear he has been playing copper roles on British Telly for quite some time, so the role of DCI Gene Hunt probably came natural. As much as I loved Harvey Keitel's Gene Hunt in the US version, you cannot help but immediately want to watch the Glenister version yell, cuss and scream at people, over and over.
A note of caution: My wife also liked DCI Gene Hunt on the Bloke version, and now, she is running around the house yelling things like, "Oi! Drop your weapons! You are surrounded by armed bastards!" or " You great... soft... sissy... girlie... nancy... French... bender... Man United supporting POOF!" Yes, the dog especially loves that one. She now likes to use terms like Bollocks and is fond of telling people "You're nicked!" So keep that in mind if you decide to go back and watch the British version, you may find yourself with an entirely new vocabulary.
A final note: Again, being way out of touch, we found that there is a follow-up to the Brit version of LOM called Ashes to Ashes. Sam Tyler seems to be gone, but now some lady detective has gone back to 1983 to join DCI Gene Hunt. I can't wait to see it!
It isn't uncommon that my wife and I come to these TV shows late. For instance, we still have never seen a single episode of "24", and we had to go back and rent DVDs of The Sopranos to catch up on three or four seasons so we could watch the last episode along with the rest of the country. There is simply too much TV to try to find all of the good shows and stay up with them unless you are one of those people who walk in the door, glue your ass to the couch and don't move until the alarm goes off signaling it is time for work. The answer is A) getting recommendations from friends as to which shows are good and 2) not feeling bad if they give you bad info and simply moving on.
So, if I may be so bold as to implore you to go forth, get hit by a speeding car and wake-up in 2006, back when the British version of Life on Mars came out, and watch it.
A few caveats: First, based purely on production values (Americans tend to spend a lot of money in TV production, special effects, soundtrack and such), I totally preferred the American production of Life on Mars. Keep in mind, they had two things going for them. There was already an established story that worked, and secondly, Lost! is a huge hit and now, people seem to be a little more accepting of suspending reality an hour at a time.
In the American version of LOM, they really sold the fact that it was 1973 and thanks to Michael Imperioli as Det Ray Carling going all out with the 70's porn star look, you couldn't help but feel like you were watching Starsky & Hutch from time to time. And the music helped. The American version was all over the music in most scenes and if only for comedic value, there was a lot more references by Det. Sam Tyler to modern day. And finally, like most American shows filmed in NYC, they seem to have lots of extras walking around to make it appear real.
From the production stand point, the Brit version appeared to be filmed on a closed studio lot. I can only assume the BBC does not pay for huge productions where every scene is filled with 200 hundred extras wandering around, nor can they round up a fleet of 1970's vintage cars so as to allow a car chase scene to involve more than two vehicles - the one being chased and the one doing the chasing. For me, that was the most frustrating thing about watching the Bloke version; the fact that it did not share the same scenery, the same rich soundtrack and all those little extra things in the background that may or may not catch your eye the first time you see it, that really make you feel transformed to the era.
Okay, enough of the caveats. The Bloke version of LOM had a much more believable lead actor, John Simm as Sam Tyler. More importantly, the role of Sam's boss, Gene Hunt was played by a guy named Philip Glenister. Just looking at his bio, it would appear he has been playing copper roles on British Telly for quite some time, so the role of DCI Gene Hunt probably came natural. As much as I loved Harvey Keitel's Gene Hunt in the US version, you cannot help but immediately want to watch the Glenister version yell, cuss and scream at people, over and over.
A note of caution: My wife also liked DCI Gene Hunt on the Bloke version, and now, she is running around the house yelling things like, "Oi! Drop your weapons! You are surrounded by armed bastards!" or " You great... soft... sissy... girlie... nancy... French... bender... Man United supporting POOF!" Yes, the dog especially loves that one. She now likes to use terms like Bollocks and is fond of telling people "You're nicked!" So keep that in mind if you decide to go back and watch the British version, you may find yourself with an entirely new vocabulary.
A final note: Again, being way out of touch, we found that there is a follow-up to the Brit version of LOM called Ashes to Ashes. Sam Tyler seems to be gone, but now some lady detective has gone back to 1983 to join DCI Gene Hunt. I can't wait to see it!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Life On Mars: Am I the Only Chump?
Just watched the season/series finale of Life on Mars, a show that I absolutely loved. But for craps sake, I feel like a total idiot for not figuring it all out about two or three episodes into it.
Good grief. No, better yet, WTFO?
I shan't spoil it for those of you in DVR mode, but in the same way that the people on "LOST!" are, uh, lost, the title "Life on Mars" should have given me a clue.
I feel like a total dumbass.
What about you? Disappointed? Tell me about it.
Good grief. No, better yet, WTFO?
I shan't spoil it for those of you in DVR mode, but in the same way that the people on "LOST!" are, uh, lost, the title "Life on Mars" should have given me a clue.
I feel like a total dumbass.
What about you? Disappointed? Tell me about it.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Important Notes: Fish, Parking, Mars...
A few important things that you need to know.
First, we had to go out to Alamo Ranch to purchase some provisions from both Lowe's and JC Penny & Co. Following that, my wife had an idea to slip into Jim's to try their Friday fish special.
It looks pretty decent on the menu and the price is certainly right. But I will tell you that once served, the fish looked like maybe it was fried a bit too long and the pieces seemed much smaller than what the menu depicted. But having complained about that (to you, not the waiter), I have to tell you that it was all pretty tasty.
Please don't misunderstand; if asked to recommend a place to get fish, I wouldn't send an out of towner to visit Jim's for the catch of the day. But I'm just saying that the fish was good, the Cole slaw was really good and I liked the toast. Oh, and my wife liked the peach cobbler.
The next important thing you need to know. Parking in the middle of the road is simply not allowed, even if you are trying to make a phone call. Besides the fact that it doesn't seem safe, it makes getting home a lot harder during rush hour. So please, refrain from that. Thanks.
Finally, I have to inform you that I have found a show that can actually make me stay on the treadmill for the full 50 minutes without getting bored. Life on Mars.
We started to watch the first episode of the show when it came out and gave up after the first five or ten minutes. Then, I kept seeing commercials for the show and suddenly realized that one of the characters was played by Michael Imperioli, who we loved in Sopranos and several other things. So I did a search on Hulu (by the way, I loved the Alec Baldwin commercial for Hulu during the Superbowl, even though I don't care for the guy), and found Life on Mars episodes on ABC. This might actually make sense because Life on Mars is actually on ABC. Funny how that works.
Anyway, the bad news is, they don't have the first four episodes online, so I did something that I normally won't do; I started with episode 5. I am totally hooked. Now I just need to find some Internet page that has episodes 1-4, just in case I missed anything.
In case you don't know, the gist of it is, this police officer is somehow injured (I don't even know if he was shot, hit by a bus, or slipped on a banana peel) and when he wakes up, he is still a police officer, still the same age, but the year is 1973. Think Starsky and Hutch. I swear, I thought I saw Huggy Bear walk by in one scene. Anyway, the people in his precinct know that he is some sort of mental case, but apparently not enough to send him off to the nut farm. Or, maybe they did and it was all resolved by episode number 5 when I started watching.
Anyway, as you can imagine, the guy has memories of how things are in 2008 (so last year, really), to include police techniques, sayings and even dance moves. He impresses his co-workers by performing Michale Jackson's Moonwalk across a desk during a party. Good times. I know all of this could seem just too easy to turn into a bunch of warn out cliches and stuff, but it really works well. The music is perfectly matched and even though we would recognize Harvey Keitel's and Michael Imperioli's characters from 70's cop shows, they make it all come together without the need to roll eyes.
I'm thinking I could have never gotten into this show if I hadn't accepted some suspended reality caused by being a fan of Lost. But now that I have found it, I'm pretty happy. If you know where I can find the first four episodes of Life on Mars, send me the link!
First, we had to go out to Alamo Ranch to purchase some provisions from both Lowe's and JC Penny & Co. Following that, my wife had an idea to slip into Jim's to try their Friday fish special.
It looks pretty decent on the menu and the price is certainly right. But I will tell you that once served, the fish looked like maybe it was fried a bit too long and the pieces seemed much smaller than what the menu depicted. But having complained about that (to you, not the waiter), I have to tell you that it was all pretty tasty.
Please don't misunderstand; if asked to recommend a place to get fish, I wouldn't send an out of towner to visit Jim's for the catch of the day. But I'm just saying that the fish was good, the Cole slaw was really good and I liked the toast. Oh, and my wife liked the peach cobbler.
The next important thing you need to know. Parking in the middle of the road is simply not allowed, even if you are trying to make a phone call. Besides the fact that it doesn't seem safe, it makes getting home a lot harder during rush hour. So please, refrain from that. Thanks.Finally, I have to inform you that I have found a show that can actually make me stay on the treadmill for the full 50 minutes without getting bored. Life on Mars.
We started to watch the first episode of the show when it came out and gave up after the first five or ten minutes. Then, I kept seeing commercials for the show and suddenly realized that one of the characters was played by Michael Imperioli, who we loved in Sopranos and several other things. So I did a search on Hulu (by the way, I loved the Alec Baldwin commercial for Hulu during the Superbowl, even though I don't care for the guy), and found Life on Mars episodes on ABC. This might actually make sense because Life on Mars is actually on ABC. Funny how that works.
Anyway, the bad news is, they don't have the first four episodes online, so I did something that I normally won't do; I started with episode 5. I am totally hooked. Now I just need to find some Internet page that has episodes 1-4, just in case I missed anything.
In case you don't know, the gist of it is, this police officer is somehow injured (I don't even know if he was shot, hit by a bus, or slipped on a banana peel) and when he wakes up, he is still a police officer, still the same age, but the year is 1973. Think Starsky and Hutch. I swear, I thought I saw Huggy Bear walk by in one scene. Anyway, the people in his precinct know that he is some sort of mental case, but apparently not enough to send him off to the nut farm. Or, maybe they did and it was all resolved by episode number 5 when I started watching.
Anyway, as you can imagine, the guy has memories of how things are in 2008 (so last year, really), to include police techniques, sayings and even dance moves. He impresses his co-workers by performing Michale Jackson's Moonwalk across a desk during a party. Good times. I know all of this could seem just too easy to turn into a bunch of warn out cliches and stuff, but it really works well. The music is perfectly matched and even though we would recognize Harvey Keitel's and Michael Imperioli's characters from 70's cop shows, they make it all come together without the need to roll eyes.
I'm thinking I could have never gotten into this show if I hadn't accepted some suspended reality caused by being a fan of Lost. But now that I have found it, I'm pretty happy. If you know where I can find the first four episodes of Life on Mars, send me the link!
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About Your Host
- Dave
- San Antonio, TX, United States
- I love to observe the odd things happening around me as I go about my day. I especially like it when I can get a picture of people being themselves. Here, I attempt to report the various people and events I have encountered in my neighborhood, and my city. I'd also love to hear from you. Feel free to e-mail your experiences and photos of life in San Antonio.
