Best show on TV. Period.
Posted by Ryan on Tuesday, May 6, 2008 |
Comments (1)Gossip Girl. Watch it.
I feel the same way about it that I felt about Veronica Mars; I watch it and I worry that it's too ambitious for its own good, that it bites off more than it can possibly chew . . . and then it goes and tells its stories with such incredible deftness that it all seems so simple, until you look back and remember how much has happened.
It isn't perfect. Timelines don't always match up — but that's a problem with most shows, and one I don't pay much attention to. I don't watch TV for the realism and practicality of it all! And at the climax of this week's episode, my first reaction was, "Oh no! They just jumped the shark!" But then I thought about it, and that's the only possible place they could have gone. Anything less would have been a disappointment. And besides, unlike Jenny Humphrey, the show has earned the benefit of the doubt.
Issues: Where was Nate this week? After he and Vanessa hooked up in the last episode, he should have been around. His absence really bothered me. But here's what I'm thinking: He *will* be around soon, and he's going to be the one who blows Georgina's plot wide open. And I can't wait.
When did Monday become the best night on TV? The Big Bang Theory has turned out to be a seriously great sitcom (if you didn't lose your shit when the guys helped Leonard time travel last week, I don't want to know you!), How I Met Your Mother has been spectacular since the strike ended (Sarah Chalke FTW!), and Gossip Girl is honestly the best thing I watch each week. If I were into The Hills or less burned-out on Dancing With the Stars, Mondays would kill me.
GTA IV impressions
Posted by Ryan on Thursday, May 1, 2008 |
Comments (0)I was pretty exhausted last night; took a nap as soon as I got home and couldn't even get up when the UPS guy rang the doorbell. Luckily they have my sig on file, so he left the box on the porch. Eventually I forced myself to get up, made a plate of food (feeling like I was melting into the ground with each step — I was tired!), and dragged the box to my room.
First things first, the Special Edition's safety-deposit box is awesome! I was worried it would be a cheap plastic thing, and while it's by no means a genuine bank-quality box, it's metal, it feels substantial enough, and it's got a rudimentary lock. I think I've found a new box for all my treasures!
Now, most of those treasures are letters Sara wrote to me years and years ago. Fast-forward to 2008, and Sara has me emailing her friend Michelle so I can learn how to talk to girls (don't ask!). It's been awkward and weird and it feels kind of pointless since Michelle lives in San Diego, but it's been fun enough. And in GTA IV, one of your first missions is to go on a date with a character named . . . Michelle. It's crazy, but my life just always seems to work that way. I laughed so hard!
So Virtual Michelle and Virtual Me go bowling (My real-life scores from bowling with the office fam last Friday: 126, 126, 139). She has a lot of fun, things are looking good . . . and then as I'm taking her home I find a stash of molotov cocktails. These are the first weapons I've found in the game, and since I've already gotten my ass kicked in a couple of fistfights and had to use vehicular homicide to survive encounters with fascist-pig Liberty City cops, it's safe to say that I'm excited by this new development. I jab at the buttons on the controller, trying to figure out how to switch between the cocktails and my bare fists, and suddenly I find myself throwing a cocktail at poor Michelle! She gets burned and runs, and I fail the date mission. Again, just like my real life. LOL!
Long story short, this game is awesome! Ultimately not as awesome as sleep, but pretty awesome.
Epic
Posted by Ryan on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 |
Comments (0)Monday night, banging out a few quests in the Hinterlands, I got my third-ever purple drop: The Green Tower. I've fallen in love with dual-wielding maces on my shaman, so I have no use for it, but still. PURPLE DROP, BITCHES! Awesome.
Two things, unrelated, which tell you everything about me
Posted by Ryan on Monday, April 28, 2008 |
Comments (0)1) My copy's been listed as "Shipping soon" since at least yesterday afternoon, so I hope Amazon sends it out today (though the release date is tomorrow, so I guess I shouldn't get my hopes too high). I can't wait! Seriously, it's averaging something like a 99/100 on all the review sites. Not so coincidentally, there's a 99% chance of me buying a copy from Best Buy tomorrow if Amazon doesn't ship in the next 24 hours. I'm not even kidding.
2) "I like it so much, I don't want it to be over. So I'm saving it." – Bill Adama (He's neither an Admiral nor a William when he says it. He's Bill, talking to Laura, risking it all.)
ETA 2:06pm: It shipped! UPS should be dropping it off on Wednesday. And now the next two days are going to D . . . R . . . A . . . G.
Out of control
Posted by Ryan on Monday, April 14, 2008 |
Comments (0)How I know that the *really* pretty girl selling HDTVs at Best Buy last week was only doing her job and not really flirting with me when she flashed me her heart-stopping smile: I was wearing my cardigan and a pair of white Havaianas slippers. I'm minimally macho already, but the only way I could possibly have looked any more femmy than I did that night would have required me to wear skinny jeans. And that [Ryan pauses to check the state of his thighs] ain't happening.
Best Buy damage: Walk Hard (Blu-ray) $30, Gunslinger Girl (DVD set) $30, HBO comedy sampler (DVD) $1, 1TB external hard drive for my brother ($220)
Trust me, it could have been worse. You didn't see the TV girl!
Life is crazy. Even when you don't have much of one. This I'm learning. ©2007
