The Clicking of the Heels

New year has come and gone, and the new season of television has been unleashed upon us, the unsuspecting viewers. So what am I watching?

Monday: I don't think anything good is on. Find something else to do. (I've been watching stuff on my Xbox - see the list below.) I'll watch Arrested Development when/if they put it back on the air. What a terrible waste, letting that show die.
Tuesday: Gilmore Girls (WB) at 8p, Scrubs (NBC) at 9p, Love Monkey (CBS) at 10p
Wednesday: Lost (ABC) at 9p, South Park (COM) at 10p, Drawn Together (COM) at 1030p
Thursday: My Name is Earl (NBC) at 9p, The Office (NBC) at 930p, Distraction (COM) at 1030p
Friday: Numb3rs (CBS) at 10p

Weekdays (if I'm around): Jim Rome is Burning (ESPN) at 430p, Around the Horn (ESPN) at 5p, Pardon the Interruption (ESPN) at 530p, The Daily Show (COM) at 11p, The Colbert Report (COM) at 1130p

And during the week, shows like Iron Chef, Simpsons, South Park, Family Guy, Mythbusters, and other greats are TiVo'd at all odd hours of the day so I've got filler in the crappy time slots, or (more likely) to watch on my slower days.

Also, I make heavy use of bittorrent and Xbox Media Center to watch some older shows that I haven't gotten a chance to see. Currently I'm in the middle of Fox's brief series "John Doe", as well as a few other older shows. "Firefly" is another classic that most of us missed when it ran.

I've been getting heavy use out of my Nintendo DS lately. I raided a local used video games shop and picked up three more titles: Feel the Magic XY/XX, Super Mario 64 DS, and Nintendogs. Yes, I bought Nintendogs. You know what? It's one hell of a game. Sure it might just be a pet simulation, but you really can find yourself coming to care for the well being of something that's nothing more than 1s and 0s. Brilliant AI programming on Nintendo's part. Feel the Magic is a pretty good proof-of-concept for how to use the second screen and the microphone well. Mario 64 plays great, but the control is a little iffy - I much prefer using an analog stick versus the thumb stylus on the touchpad.

The more I listen to Sufjan Stevens' album "Illinois", the more I realize just how incredible a piece of art it is. Now I love the hell out of the Death Cab album, but there are some things on "Illinois" that just slay me. Track #3, "Come On Feel the Illinoise!" is an incredible example of how to put two songs into one with a good, coherent bridge. The first half, "The World's Columbian Exposition" is light and poppy, is followed by an excellent bridge and concludes with "Carl Sandburg Visits Me in a Dream", a darker yet still intensely melodic song all into itself. This bleeds into what I think is the most incredible track on the album, #4 - "John Wayne Gacy, Jr.", a song about the serial killer. It's phenomenally beautiful. The part where he sings "Oh my God...are you one of them?" at the end of the first verse - that bit always raises the hairs on the back of my neck. But from opening to ending, it's hard for me to find fault in this album. While the "hit" track "Chicago" might be my least favorite, it's still a good track. Buy this album. I have. Twice now.

I'm still halfway through Eternal Darkness on my Gamecube. I knew this would happen if I didn't finish it during the break - I'd get too busy with school and work that I just wouldn't make the time to finish it up. Damn. I was almost done too.

Speaking of school, this is the big semester - not from a class perspective, but because of that behemoth of a test lurking on April 22nd. I just went and registered for it, and other than the 14,000 question opinion poll they give during the registration, it wasn't too bad. I really hope I get my #1 choice [FSU] and don't have to drive somewhere to take it [#2 choice is Jacksonville U] - I had to drive to Panama City for the SATs way back in the day, and that sucked. I know I'll be drained as hell after that test and a 2.5 hour drive to cap off a long day is NOT how I want to spend my Saturday night. I do feel excited though - it's just another check in a box on that long list of things to do until I get to actually treat patients.