Monthly Archives: June 2010

General

Wednesday Ramblings

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I feel like I'm living an episode of House. I've been sick since Friday evening, and new and interesting symptoms just keep popping up. Today my right ear has pretty much stopped working altogether. My unbearably sore throat seems a bit better than it's been for the past few days, so that's something good. My right eye was all crusty when I woke up this morning though, so tomorrow's new symptom may well be pinkeye. I can't wait to find out!

I'm sitting here in the Lasik MD waiting room waiting for my wife to go in for surgery. Hopefully it's not pinkeye that I've got, as this doesn't seem like the sort of place to spread it around. I seem to be ok though. I'm watching the World Cup Group C showdown… England vs. USA in separate games and wondering whether either of them will put on a display worthy of getting them into the elimination round. So far it seems the Americans deserve it more, yet the English are winning their game while the USA isn't.

In other news… Marcos Ambrose made an epic mistake on Sunday and basically gave the trophy to Jimmie. I feel terrible for him. I really like the guy, and he deserved the win. I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

And finally… Persons Unknown is still good. I guess if you haven't started watching it yet, it's probably too late for you. If you have… then I think the blonde chick should have done more damage to the creepy guy, and at least told everyone else what he'd done. Can't wait for next week!

Are they finally gonna beat the snot out of the hotel guy??? 🙂

TV Shows

Persons Unknown: Ep. 2

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I watched the 2nd episode of Persons Unknown last night, and I'm still intrigued.

There's a few things worth mentioning.

Firstly, the mystery is still compelling enough to leaving me excited about next weeks episode. Without that, what's the point, right?

Secondly, they've made a big deal in the promo spots about the fact that it's a mini-series and that we'll know what's going on by the end of the summer. I can't help but wonder whether they're throwing a bone to us Lost fans who might be concerned that we're about to commit the next 6 years of our lives to another show.

I don't regret the time spent watching Lost. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It did make me happy at the end of the 4th season though when they announced when the end would come so we could all look forward to some sort of conclusion. With this new series, we're being given that up front. Hopefully it's not a scam and they don't let the success (which it will hopefully have) drag it outside the planned plotline.

Finally, I like the fact that they're already answering questions I've been asking. The end of the 2nd episode really amused me. I've wondered more than a few times "why aren't they bashing in the cameras??". Well… finally they knocked one out. The result was most excellent! 🙂

So… if you haven't watched it, you need to start from the beginning and get up to speed.

And if you're a racing fan but think you hate NASCAR… tune in this weekend for Sonoma's race on Infinion Raceway. NASCAR on the road courses is always great fun!!

TV Shows

Persons Unknown

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Last night I watched a new show called Persons Unknown.

If you haven't heard of it, now is probably the time to try to download or otherwise find the first episode, as this could well turn into the next Lost.

The premise is a bit of a mix between Lost, where you have a bunch of people stranded in some mysterious place, and a sort of forced Truman Show existance, where they seem to be stuck in this place for someone's entertainment or something.

There's also a bit of the Saw franchise thrown in for good measure.

It seems a bit derivative, but the premier was good enough to leave me looking forward to the next episode. For now, I'm definitely recommending it.

Let's just hope they don't go on a couple month break and then move the timeslot so I miss a few episodes like what happened with V. I guess I'll have to pick that one up again once it comes out on disc.

Auto Racing

TNT's Amateur NASCAR Coverage

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I've read some comments over the past few weeks about how bad TNT's NASCAR coverage is through the middle of the season. I didn't think too much of it as it hadn't been particularly memorable in the past, but it made me pay closer attention during yesterday's race.

I hate to say it, but the comments have been pretty spot-on. It's as if they took the FOX commentators as a template, and then hired their mentally-challenged cousins to fill in for them at a fraction of the cost.

I mean, some people don't like Darrel Waltrip, but I think he does a great job of showing enthusiasm and adding both amusing and interesting commentary. When he talks about things like what drivers are thinking and how they're going about trying to win the race, you get the impression he knows what he's talking about. The man knows a thing or two about winning.

Kyle Petty gives the complete opposite impression. When he talks about what he thinks is going through the driver's minds, I can't help but think "Really… what do you know about what it's like to run up front? What do you know about winning Sprint cup races?" For the most part, he's just sort of annoying. Beyond his family name, I have no idea why anyone lets the man on television at all.

Beyond Kyle seeming generally out of place, I was downright amused at how many times the other commentators just couldn't manage to spit out a sentence. I mean… their job is to talk. If they can't talk fluently, they shouldn't be there, no matter what their history with the sport is!

On the bright side, at least Digger's gone.

Here's hoping the coverage gets better as their stint progresses.

As for the race itself… well… it really wasn't worth watching until the final 20 laps or so. For some reason I remembered Pocono being more entertaining than that in the past. I'm sure next week will be more of the same, with Michigan being one of my least favourite races.

Then it's on to Sonoma, Loudon, and Daytona though! Lots of great fun coming right up!!!