Arrested Development DVDs, Baby!

Season 3 for 21.99$ at Best Buy. Pretty sweet deal. I just unpacked them and they are sitting on my couch. I'll watch a few episodes tonight. Yay!

I am even more excited though for The Office Season 2 DVDs coming out on September 12. Ah yes, the Emmy award-winning Office! Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam, has updated her MySpace page with a bunch of pictures from the Office Emmy after-party. It is adorable.

My favourite picture of the Emmys: Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell having too much fun. They are very cute.

A Conversation About Darwin

Charlie Rose had James Watson, who discovered the structure of DNA, and Edward O. Wilson, the famous evolutionary biologist, talking about Darwin, evolution, and science for a full hour. It is beyond awesome. You can watch it here. This kind of discussion makes me geeky heart so happy. It is interesting to hear them say that cracking the secrets of how the mind works will be the next landmark discovery in science. I am getting right on that, because that is clearly how I'll get my Nobel Prize. ;) LOL

That is not to say I don't disagree with Watson on some issues, because he can be really old school, and some of his ideas appear to hold some unsavory prejudices. Nevertheless, in that interview, he asks one of the most interesting question I have ever heard, "How do you have a just society when genetic is injust?" I'll ponder that for a minute or two or ten thousand. Wow.

Emmy Sunday!

Some people have the Super Bowl or the Stanley Cup finals, I have TV and movie award shows! One part of the triumvirate of award shows (the Oscars, the Emmys, and the Golden Globes) is airing this Sunday night. Heeeeeellllllloooo Emmys! The gala is hosted by Conan O'Brien this year, and I have a few shows to root for, so I will be watching. I don't watch any of the shows nominated in the drama category (yes, I am the only person left who does not watch Lost or Grey's Anatomy), but the Comedy and Variety Show categories are made for me. Woohoo!

I Am Easily Amused...

This is such a funny website: Stuff on my cat.

Ain't No Other Man

Oh, I bought Christina Aguilera's new CD (double album, in fact), which is a mix of jazzy/big band music with a modern twist. It's really good. I can't stop listening to it, and singing its songs. Addictive.

I don't know if you've been watching The Colbert Report & The Daily Show, but they have been particularly on fire recently, especially when Geraldo and O'Reilly goading Stephen and Jon, saying they were not funny, so Jon and Stephen decided to mock them (as you can see from the clips I've linked). Awesome. Oh, and some heroes out there created some Colbert staples for fans to use. You can create your own On Notice board or ThreatDown.

Finally, I can't help myself because I stumbled upon a trove of pictures from a photoshoot for the Improper Bostonian, and he is just too handsome:

BST LINK EVER!1!11!!! OMG WTF LOL

Hee. Many years ago, on a message board about a show that shall remain nameless ;), a bunch of us would talk in what someone dubbed, for some reason that escapes me now, "footz" language. Basically, we would write in barely comprehensible Internet lingo just to entertain ourselves. It looks like someone had the same idea, and came up with this awesome English-to-12-Year-Old-AOLer translator. THES SI SO COL!11!!1! LOL I CANT STAND IT!1!1!!! WTF LOL ;)

Oooooo... New TV!

Yay, I have a shiny new TV. So pretty. Enthralling! :)

Technological Woes...Again!

I am having a funeral for my TV. It died a sad death, and would cost 300$ to fix it. So I have to go buy a new one. That may sound like fun, but it isn't.

Now, I just realized that I forgot my speakers that I brought to class tonight to have students listen to some videoclips. I was talking to students as I packed my bag at the end of class, and clearly got distracted. Damn all to hell. I hope they are still there tomorrow morning, because I don't want to buy new speakers!!! This is just the summer of crazy expensive stuff that breaks or gets lost. Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh.

A Little Office Guide for Bee

The first episode of the American Office is pretty much word for word like the British one, but after that, the episodes become distinct. I mean, some of the plots have certain similarities, but once we get to the second season, it has diverged pretty much completely. (Although, I have a feeling that in season 3, we will see an arc already used by the British version, but it is pure speculation on my part.... The 2 versions of the Office are really mostly distinct shows, and the tone of the American version is certainly a bit lighter (again, especially in season 2), although Michael can be a huge jackass! My favourite episode of season 1 is called "The Alliance". It is pretty perfect.

In season 2, the show became really an ensemble show, and focused on everyone in the office, not just the main 4. Still, I LOVE season one.

Just in case, a British to American conversion of characters
- David Brent (Ricky Gervais) = Michael Scott (Steve Carell)
- Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) = Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson)
- Tim Canterbury (Martin Freeman) = Jim Halpert (John Krasinski)
- Dawn Tinsley (Lucy Davis)= Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer)
- Ricky the temp = Ryan the temp
- Keith, the weird guy = Kevin
- Lee, Dawn's fiancé = Roy, Pam's fiancé
- Jennifer Taylor Clark = Jan Levinson-Gould
- Chris Finch (Finchy)= Todd Packer

But there are tons more characters in the US series, who are there in season 1, but whom we get to know even better in season 2.
- Toby, sensible HR rep and Michael's archnemesis (Really awesome!)
- Phyllis, the sweetest employee & motherly figure in the office
- Angela, the bitchiest & most controlling accountant ever (She is the head of the party planning committee we often see.)
- Kelly, who never stops talking & loves everything pink and pretty
- Stanley, who is just waiting to retire and is in a 'run down the clock' situation
- Oscar, another accountant
- Creed, the weirdest employee ever
- Meredith, with the 2 divorces & a bit of a drinking problem (She is the one whose birthday they celebrate in season 1).
- Darryl, the foreman of the warehouse

Sigh.

I found this on the Office LJ community. How cute is he? Too much, that's how. So, so handsome. I want one like that. ;) For the record, I will admit to being totally pathetic by buying the magazine, and putting that picture up by my desk.

This is Not The Summer of Technology...

After my computer, now my TV. Can you believe this? The picture on my 2-year-old TV is gone. Since it is huge and heavy, there was no way I could actually move it myself. So it cost me 45$ to have it picked up and taken to the store to get it fixed. It is sure to cost me another 75$-100$ at least for repair. Sigh.

Pride & Prejudice Reenacted...

With dolls. It made me laugh so much.

This Is A Post Without A Title Because It Is Full of Random Stuff...

My writing muse struck again: Wild Horses. There is something about certain songs that just inspires me. Incidentally, I wasn't listening to the original version of Wild Horses when I wrote this, but to the cover by Alicia Keys and Adam Levine (of Maroon 5). I highly recommend it. Anyway, it is just a beautiful song.

A fellow Office fan compiled the colours of Jim's shirts and Pam's cardigans across episodes just because I dared her to.(She had compiled Jim's tie patterns last week, and I was kind of joking around...) First of all, what better use of Excel is there? ;) Second, I am amazed there are some people as geeky as I, who think stats can be fun. Finally, I think I may have discovered myself some powers of persuasion that I can use for evil. LOL (Yeah, I wish.)

Rented a documentary called Stupidity last night. Eh. It felt full of filler, and for a documentary deploring the pervasiveness of stupidity, I didn't exactly it offered a lot of insight into anything.

I made some fresh salsa, and mint & shredded chicken noodles last night. So, so good.

Because YouTube is awesome as always, I found a clip of an old SNL episode with Justin Timberlake as host. I remember being surprised how good he was. It had a skit where he played Jessica Simpson. It still cracks me up...

How Can You Not Love A Website...

Which has an entry this long about swearing in Quebec? Awesome. As you can see, unlike English where most curse words are associated with sex and/or bodily functions, all the curse words in French-speaking Quebec are derived from religion, most precisely Catholicism. It is so funny to read a list of curse words, especially since stringing them together makes them that much more potent when we curse. The person who wrote this was fairly thorough, because they even explains why derivations of the words fuck and shit are actually very mild curse words for us (the kind of stuff you hear on TV, and which offends few people.)

I never swear in French (or very rarely), whereas it doesn't bother me as much in English. I'm not a total potty mouth, but I have some favourite words when I'm exasperated. My poor mom who thought she raised a lady. LOL

We All Scream for Ice Cream!

Man, is it ever hot in Toronto. It is still 30 celsius (86F) outside at midnight. Yikes. Anyway, so it was hot, and I had seen ice cream vendors all over the place today so I decided I needed to eat kickass ice cream. There is a little place around the corner that makes great ice cream, and I never take advantage of it so tonight was the night. The lineup was a street block long though at 9:30 so I waited for a bit.

Around 11:00, I went to get a scoop of chocoholic ice cream & one of espresso ice cream. So, so good! Mmmmm, caffeinated ice cream! Anyway, the cup cost 5$ so I give the girl a 20$. When I get outside the store, I realize she gave me back 4 5$ bills. These poor kids working so hard scooping ice cream all night, and the cash won't balance. So I decide to go back into the store to give her back the money. You should have seen the head of the teenagers behind the counter. They really looked like they thought I was crazy for bringing money back. LOL Honestly, I probably wouldn't have felt bad if it had been in a big chain store, but this place needs its business dollars. Besides, bad karma ain't worth 5$.

Off to watch The Daily Show and The Colbert Report!