Now Children, Remember Your Breathing

Okay, now that the fall TV season is in full swing, here's a night-by-night guide of what I'm watching, or as I like to put it, "what's good on TV."

Sunday:
800pm: The Simpsons [Fox]
900pm: Rome [HBO] OR
Family Guy [Fox]
930pm: American Dad [Fox]
1000pm: Grey's Anatomy [ABC] OR
Curb Your Enthusiasm [HBO]

Monday:
(If no decent game on Monday Night Football, then):
800pm: Arrested Development [Fox]
830pm: 30 Minutes of MNF, no matter how bad the game [ABC]
900pm: Prison Break [Fox]

Tuesday:
800pm: Gilmore Girls [WB]
900pm: House [Fox] OR
My Name Is Earl [NBC]
930pm: The Office [NBC]
1000pm: Nip/Tuck [FX]

Wednesday:
900pm: Lost [ABC]
1000pm: Invasion [ABC] OR
South Park [Comedy Central]

Thursday:
800pm: Everybody Hates Chris [UPN] OR
Survivor: Guatemala [CBS]

Friday:
1000pm: NUMB3RS [CBS]

The toughest time slot to pick from is that 9pm Tuesday night slot. House is one of my favorite shows on TV, but after watching the pilot of My Name is Earl, I'm hooked. I love anything with Jason Lee in it (he's absolutely hilarious) and the show seems very well written. Sunday's the toughest night to pick from overall. If you've got HBO the choice is tough, if not, stick with the Fox lineup [and download Rome].

I'm still pissed that they cancelled Carnivale. I loved that show.

I'm going to see The Decemberists on Tuesday, and I'm really looking forward to it. They're one of the bands I've been wanting to see for a while, so it should be fun.

Burnout: Revenge is ridiculous, but I've been mainly playing Burnout: Legends. On-the-go portable Burnout is the best idea EVER.

Speaking of games, I traded in a lot of old games (including most of my PSP games) and am now the proud owner of a blue Nintendo DS. I really wanted Nintendogs, but every store in town was sold out - so I opted for Kirby: Canvas Curse. This game's quite a bit of fun, but I think I would've still liked Nintendogs better. All I wanted was a little Yorkshire Terrier and a German Shepard pup. And of course, I'd name them Mickey and Max respectively.

My room is clean right now for seemingly the first time in MONTHS. Lord knows how long that'll stay that way. The over/under is hereby set at eleven minutes. Smart money's on the under.

Work is absolutely terrible at the moment, but on an up-note school is going exceptionally well. After the first exam in Organic Chemistry, I've got just over 100% in the class - about 40-45 points higher than the class average. So needless to say, I'm feeling pretty damned good about that one. In Biology II, we've had two quizzes and I've done well on each, but I have my first test in there on Wednesday along with my first foreign language test (Spanish I) since I took the AP Latin Lit exam back in May 1999. I'd be willing to bet the Spanish I exam will be cake, though I'm terribly afraid I'll get paired up with one of the MANY dumb undergrads who can't speak a lick of Spanish as my partner for the oral exams. That might be a good thing though - I'd be running circles around them, making myself look better. Does that translate to a better grade? We'll see.

To tell the truth, I'm not excited by this Amazing Race. I'm on record calling it the best reality show on TV (outside of sports) but this season's whole spin of having families of 4 compete instead of the typical two just turns me off. I don't want to have to watch some whining kids compete in neutered competitions. I still do want to be on that show at some point in time, because I think I could do very well and I'd love to travel that much.

Room's dirty again. What was that? Three minutes?

If you haven't checked my photo blog, I put up some pictures from the FSU vs. Miami game I went to. That page hasn't been updated much this year, as I haven't really had any good reasons to take pictures - or when I do, I notoriously leave my camera at home. I'll try to be better about that in the months to come.

If you haven't tried last.fm I honestly don't understand why. Once you've rated some songs you like (either through the website or by using Audioscrobbler plugins) you get a personalized, free streaming radio station that absolutely kicks ass. I've listened to my personalized stations for hours and hours in the last week or so. What a great product.

Just to make sure you read it here first, I'm picking Virginia Tech to beat Southern California to win the Rose Bowl in January. VT looked untouchable in their absolute destruction of my poor Yellow Jackets today in Blacksburg.

I'm missing my friends that moved away more and more as time marches on. At least I keep in contact with some of them, and that helps. That's the hard part about growing up and growing apart - you want all your friends to grow up and be successful and happy. Problem is, most of the time their dreams and future plans don't coincide (or even overlap) with yours, so you part ways. The times we live in now provide many cheap ways of communication, but absence still does make the heart grow fonder. If only I had some infinite travel budget or just a hook-up in the airline industry. But I don't, so I have to just wait till my paltry student budget can afford for such a trip or until a holiday when they might return home. That's the best part about still living in Tallahassee - at least I know that most of my friends still have a reason to come back here, and most of them will eventually. That being said, I still need out. Atlanta's going to be where I settle in the long run, I'd bet, but where I go between now and then is still very much up in the air. Gainesville? Durham? Who knows?

Cheerwine needs to be sold in Florida again. I got some in North Georgia a couple weeks ago, and damn I miss that stuff. For those who have never had it, imagine Dr. Pepper and Cherry Coke mixed together, but better. Great stuff.

Oh, I watched Friday Night Lights and Mr. 3000 last night, both of which were good flicks that I'd recommend to anybody who has access to them. Good time-wasting movies. Hold off for some time and you'll see both of them on TBS in due time.

Re:Portable

Okay, I think I've been neglecting my PSP, so here is a quick rundown of the games I've played and what I think of them:

Tony Hawk's Underground 2 Remix: Pretty true to the PS2/XBox version, but with different cities to ride around in. Looks great, handles well, is lots of fun. I personally liked THUG1 better than THUG2, but that's just me. Good game, worth buying if you liked any of the other THUG/THPS games. Rating: 7/10.

Lumines: A GREAT puzzle game. A weird combination of Tetris and Columns, this game is ridiculously addicting. This is a must-own for any PSP owner. Rating: 10/10.

Wipeout Pure: I love racing games, and this is one of the slickest ones I've ever played. The sense of speed is good, and the game mechanics, graphics, and audio are all worth the purchase alone. Rating: 8/10.

MVP Baseball: Based on last year's MVP 2005 engine, this is a good baseball package for the PSP. Multiplayer is fun (the HR Derby to 1 mile is great) but one gripe I have is the lack of an ability to play shorter games (5 innings, 7 innings, etc) or a shorter season (say, 81 or 40 games instead of the full 162) in season mode. That, and the fact that EA feels like they can gauge PSP owners - the PS2 and XBox versions retailed for $29.99, the PSP version for $49.99, which is absolutely bullshit. Rating: 7/10.

Twisted Metal: Head-On: True to the old console versions (PS1, PS2) the game looks and plays great, with the exception of the controls. I never liked how you had to press the forward button to go forward, instead of the customary use of the triggers for forward reverse (though I know you need those for all the extra weapon buttons in the game). Fun game, haven't tried multiplayer. Rating: 5/10.

Archer McLean's Mercury: A mediocre puzzle game. I honestly wasn't too impressed by either the concept or the execution. The game seemed like a poor man's version of the much better Super Monkey Ball. Rating: 3/10.

Virtua Tennis World Tour: Wow. Just as fun as the old Dreamcast versions. Sega proves that they still make the best tennis game on the market. Every PSP owner should buy this game. Rating: 10/10.

Burnout Legends: Once you remember to change the default configuration to use the L/R shoulder buttons for brake/gas, this game is as good as it gets on the PSP. Based on last year's Burnout 3: Takedown model (you can't use traffic for takedowns like you can in Burnout 4: Revenge) this game also features Burnout 3's Crash Mode (a feature which I was never to fond of, but it's kinda neat). If you have a PSP, you need this game. Only problem is I'll be splitting time between this and Burnout 4 on my Xbox. Decisions, decisions. Rating: 10/10.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children: This one is actually a movie that commenses two years after the end of Final Fantasy VII. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that this movie is worth watching if you're a fan of Final Fantasy.

Anybody else watched Prison Break on Fox? What a show!

At Long Last, Kickoff.

My favorite season of all, football season, is finally here. I spent the better part of the last 4 days watching college football on TV. Didn't matter who was playing, I watched. The Clemson/Texas A&M game was great, and I give Clemson credit for staying with them and putting up just enough FGs to take the game. Oklahoma losing to Texas Christian was just nuts. I watched Boston College beat BYU, a game which I wasn't really impressed by.

The game of the weekend, of course, was my Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets beating Auburn on the plains in Alabama. The Jackets seemed to dominate from start to finish, and the oft up-and-down Reggie Ball was calm, collected, and seemed to know what he was doing. Calvin Johnson is indeed THE MAN and his catch early in the first quarter for a touchdown really set the tone for the game.


Reggie Ball, on the move. [Photo by Associated Press]

I really tip my hat to Jon Tenuta and his defensive scheme. GT really did put the smack down on the Tigers' offense, holding them to one TD and two FGs. There are holes in the defense though. The commentators pointed out the flaw of Tech's defense being a shallow one, and the depth showed late in the game. My biggest fear is that this Tech team will play lights-out defense for three quarters then get tired and let up some home-run balls in the forth quarter and let a close one slip away. Happened two years ago at FSU and last year to Virginia Tech, let's hope that's not the case this year.


Looks like a sack to me! [Photo by Associated Press]

Even though the game got rediculously unnerving late in the game with Auburn seeming having their way with Tech's defense, the inexperience of the Auburn QB and his FOUR interceptions late in the game sealed the deal for GT. Putting up a FG late in the game and going up 23-14 all but sealed it for the Yellow Jackets.


Is there anything better than a victorious round of Ramblin' Wreck on a rival's field? TO HELL WITH GEORGIA! [Photo by Associated Press]

The NCSU vs. Virginia Tech game tonight was a great one, though I was less than pleased with the outcome - NC State let VT walk away with one in my opinion. A great week for the ACC, the league is going to be tough to win. GT has a murderer's row on the schedule, but if we can win at Miami, at Virginia Tech, and at Virginia, then there's little doubt who the best team in the ACC is. Will that happen? Probably not, but I'd love to see it. I don't know what to expect after our performance against Auburn, to tell the truth. But I'll be on my couch, watching every game I can, with my #1 jersey on screaming my brains out. Nobody can call me fairweather.


Our season lives and dies with #1. So don't let me down, Reggie! [Photo by Associated Press]