Sunday, September 6, 2009

Some very random Labor Day thoughts.


I signed up to tweet, but I don't tweet. I looked at the benefits of tweeting and the tweeting benefits were few.

My son has pooped his pants three days in a row. That's 2 more days in a row than I have pooped my pants total in the last 10 years.

Did something happen in Provo this weekend? I heard a collective cheer coming from the south. I thought that perhaps they Hogi Yogi was giving away free food.

I am officially addicted to two new shows on TV: Shark Tank and Glee. Glee is fantastic, or at least the first episode was.

The reason I love Glee is that I believe that High School would have been so much more bearable if it involved whimsical Broadway singing as I walked down the hall. Now, I know 'High School Musical' involves whimsical song and dance, but here is the difference - High School Musical is preteen garbage with no redeeming value.

Still no response from Off!.

I watched "Forever Strong" a couple weeks ago. Two things made me laugh: 1. Highland Rugby games were broadcast on the radio?! What station was that on? And Dave Fox did radio for Highland Rugby matches? 2. I went to a couple rugby matches while at Highland and there was MAYBE 20 people there. Amazingly, hundreds showed up for the movie matches.

My order of hateness: 1. BYU 2. Boise State 3. Ohio State 4. Texas 5. Notre Dame

My order of un-hate-ness 1. Utah 2. Penn State 3. Boys II Men 4. Cheese Fries 5. BYU's next opponent.

My Labor Day festivities will include a trip to the Dollar Tree (a former employer of mine). I hope they are having a Labor Day sale.

The other night was Back to School night, which can generally be described as parents wondering, staring and screaming at their kids. Of course, my classroom was different as I treated my parents to sushi and mini sausages and we karaoke'd Neil Diamond songs together.

10 comments:

brermomo said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
brermomo said...

Glee! Finally I get to comment on Glee! I have to say I have a different view.

Now, I'm sympathetic to these breezy shows, having been a devoted supporter of Gilmore Girls and Everwood. I didn't give much time to One Tree Hill or Gossip Girls, but I did turn my head for Privileged! And, after all, VERONICA MARS, the best television show of all time, involved high school kids. (Each individual show of V. Mars solved a minor crime with the overarching major crime theme solved at the end of the season. Very well crafted. Very satisfying. The program didn't evolve into some mystical smoke-monstor-filled-show or one where people started torturing their fellow men/women. NO, it was simply intriguing crimes, solved by the most beautiful and smart young female of all time.) So do you think I liked that show! And the creators knew when to let it die. No pretending, years from now, that thirty-five year old Veronica Mars was still in her teens.

Ok, back to Glee. Why is it that some shows like this and Southland are appointed winners before anyone even sees them, and others, like Friday Night Lights are left to dangle in the ratings, stuffed into slots on Friday or Saturday night when no one but little old grannies are watching. Oh well. For some reason Glee tickled someone’s fancy. But not mine.

I have to admit that it’s been weeks and weeks since I saw the first show—the one that followed American Idol’s finale. So, I don’t remember exactly what it was like. Only let me say this. Total disappointment. I love high school shows. I even tolerated High School Musical I, II, III, IIII, IIIII, etc. But this was just smarmy, trite, clichéd, and far over the top. Nothing subtle or clever. Just hit me over the head again with another stereotypical bashing of High School drama. Please don’t give these advertisers who thought they could just force you into watching this, the satisfaction of getting their way. They can make good shows. Why don’t we encourage them to do it? Just leave this one playing to an empty house!

Cheeseboy said...

Aunt Margaret - I have to admit that it made me chuckle, imagining you watching Gossip Girls, Everwood and the like. Perhaps I do not know you well enough, but I was very surprised that you like these shows.

I am with you, Glee felt smarmy, trite, clichéd, and far over the top for me as well. In spite of it's clear flaws, when the show was over, I felt very entertained by the entire mess. Maybe it was just the music, but I will be watching again.

As for your shot at LOST, Smoke Monsters are much more interesting to me than gossiping girls.

Tammy said...

Interesting comments about Glee. I TiVo'd the one after American Idol but when I heard it was only one episode and the rest wouldn't come until fall I decided not to watch it until now. The only reason I recorded it was because of all the hype about it being the "best" new series. I typically hate musical shows so now that I've read these comments I'm wondering if I'll hate this show too.

Luckily Shark Tank is another story. I've been addicted since the first episode. People Magazine reviews didn't give it very many stars but I see they have a new set so maybe it will be around for a long time. I hope so anyway.

Sorry to hear about your pooping son. You also forgot to mention our family party as a festivity today so I hope you didn't forget :) and I hope your son will choose that time to actually use a potty!

Tammy said...

This comment isn't related to the post but until you put a "chat with me" on your side bar there's no place else to comment.

I don't know if you remember our big debate last year about what kids wear on the first day of school and how the teacher will judge them but if you do you might remember we talked about collared shirts and being smart. Now I see Lincoln's first day picture and not only isn't he wearing a collared shirt but a t-shirt with a big logo. What will his teacher's first impression be?

Cheeseboy said...

Well Tammy, now you HAVE to watch at least the first episode, because I am very curious if you will like it or not. My gut tells me that it is a show that you will like - if only because the music in it is very popular and they are songs I know you like.

So, just promise me you will watch the first episode.

brermomo said...

Ok, ok, I didn't watch Gossip Girl. I think I might have watched it once, but I might have even made up my mind beforehand not to watch it. I can't remember. So, I probably didn't even watch it. There are a FEW shows that I don't watch, after all.

And, collared shirts. Hmmm....I think if a child wore a collared shirt to school on the first day out here, he might find himself locked in the closet with only paste glue for lunch.

brermomo said...

And, continuing...

I have only become a television fiend in the last 5 years or so. For 30 years I only watched about 3 shows---Lou Grant, Cagny and Lacy and hmmm...that's about it. Maybe only two shows.

So, I'm making up for lost time. I have no idea what all those shows like Batman or Friends or Cosby, etc. were like.

Cheeseboy said...

Yeah, collared shirts are a big thing here in the Beehive state.

I did find Glee to be much funnier than the usual High School melodramas. That High School choir that sang "Rehab" - now that was funny! And the spray-on grass - hilarious and very clever. That kind of comedy you are just not going to see on Gilmore Girls.

I was slightly disappointed in the casting though. Way too stereotypical. If you are going to have a wheelchair guy, why not make him ultra cool. Or how about making a gay character that it the toughest kid in school? Or maybe a black girl that worships Celine Dion and not Beonce? The characters in the show were more than a little cliche. If they really wanted to break the mold of a High School TV show, they should have been less moldy and stereotypical about the characters.

Now, the greatest High School show of all time was a little show called Freaks and Geeks. I am sure that you have never head of it, but the characters seemed real and the plots original. Beyond that, it was perhaps the funniest show on tv. Of course, it was canceled after the second, shortened season. However, all the kids in the show have become major stars in their own right.

brermomo said...

No, no, no, no, no!!!
That was the my very first breakthrough into modern day television. I watched every episode of Freaks and Geeks, and thought they were great. I believe that was the beginning of my slow loss of grip at the edge of the televison viewing vortex.

Can you believe all the "stars" that came out of that little show?