MY KINGDOM!: the HINES WARD of Blogs

30.11.06

God, or, more precisely, the stars, hate me.

Honestly: my daily horoscope for today (ie: make hours or DIE day):

Serious work is an uphill battle today although the ponderous life issues and corresponding responsibilities have not gone away. In thought you are ready to leave with just about anyone who has an idea for spontaneous fun. In pragmatic terms, however, escape may not be so simple. Differentiating between a practical plan and a pipe dream can be the difference now between success and failure.


T-6 hours to go...

::sigh::

-apk

Hey, It's New Year's Eve!

What? the collective Kingdom asks...

you see, the billing cycle ends today. so, hopefully, tomorrow things'll feel a little more under control. in essence, i will have my life back.

hopefully, i'll drop by a little more often.

in the meantime, discuss two shows that are better than Grey's Anatomy (which was admittedly pretty good on Thanksgiving) that I couldn't get enough of over the holiday:

Dirty Jobs on Discovery. Which is pretty much the best "day in the life of"/Discovery show ever (yes- even better than the always glorious Mythbusters ).

Arrested Development. My God, I got to this party way, way way too late, and in the words of GOB, I've made a huge mistake. I cannot think of a single show that has ever made me laugh out loud harder, or more often. I adore this.

(sorry i got your hopes up for a good post, Marc).

'til next time
-apk

20.11.06

One Word Movie Reviews

Oddly, I've seen a bunch of new movies lately (or, since the summer, which i never reviewed). I guess that's what happens when you resist any and all inclination to go to work on the weekend and hang out with Bethanites that have NetFlix subscriptions.  Without further ado, One Word Movie Reviews (further ado:  i'll try to give real reviews later).

Casino Royale:  badass.
Pirates of the Caribbean 2:  fun.
Monster House:  delightful!
The Prestige:  intriguing.
The DaVinci Code:  unspectacular.
Swingers:  overhyped.
X-Men III:  frustrating.
Superman Returns:  disappointing.
M:i:III:  fantastic.

there. That's all i've got for you off the top of my head. Feel free to add your own.

-apk

18.11.06

Eva Green is the new Kim Raver


Sorry, Audrey Raines, but there's a new love in my life.

Anyway, go see Casino Royale. It was pretty frickin' sweet. The end lags a bit at times, but Daniel Craig was pretty much everything I thought he'd be (read: excellent), the action sequences are second-to-none, and did I mention Eva Green? She is the Quintessential Adam Girl. Really, I may just start referring to her as "Adam Girl" and when people say, "what's your type," i'll just say "Eva Green". Be-utiful.

anyway, bedtime. Perhaps I'll write a review later. in the meantime, chime in with your thoughts (if you see it...)

apk

15.11.06

You're With Me, Slater


It's too little, too late, but I just want to be on the record (even though I missed the show last night and heard that Emmitt Smith Hammer Time was amazing):

Let's Go, Mario Lopez (who is clearly hooking up with his leggy partner at this point- he should have proposed last night just to swing votes).

-apk

ps:  "Show Me the Money" has loads of promise, and i'm certain that since the world now consists of a game show hosted by William Shatner that features hot dancing ladies, my dad can die a happy man.  Really fun little game show they've got there. The questions are too easy, though.

13.11.06

Atom Bombs: Grey's Anatomy-- A Rant.

Assuming people still stop by (and why should you, really, since i hardly ever do-- until DECEMBER, that is), I just had a thought that I'll probably extrapolate on later. But in the meantime, I'd like to comment on something I experienced last Thursday. I was at this great bar in the city last Thursday, which is chalk full of tvs and has a band/dj, and is pretty cool and whatever. Anyway, on all the big screens, during the Rutgers/Louisville game, no less, they were showing (because it was ladies night, natch) Grey's Anatomy.

Seriously.

No joke.

Grey's Anatomy. In a bar. On the big screens.

While two undefeateds were playing each other, and one of the teams had never played against another ranked team in its 110 year football history.

Seriously. This is the most overrated show, maybe ever...



Full Disclosure: I live with two girls, so of course I watch Grey's Anatomy on a semi-regular basis. I even generally enjoy it okay. It's generally witty, generally well-acted, and occasionally compelling. But COME ON. I mean, seriously. It's not. that. good. The characters are so self-absorbed and vapid that it's just getting annoying, and the fact that I just stood in a bar while every girl openly swooned/cheered while McDreamy (and really, i can't make fun of the nickname, because my favorite characters are named "Apollo" and "Starbuck") and the incredibly unlikable squinty-eyed Meredith made out. Yay. I almost vomited.

I submit to you that the same people who find this show life-changing/earth shattering/schedule-anchoring are the same people that take dating advice from Carrie Bradshaw.

Maybe i'm just cranky cuz I don't know if i can make my hours by the end of the year, but the fact of the matter is this: I can name 10 shows that are better than Grey's Anatomy, which is becoming increasingly innane, formulaic, unrealistic, and dreadful by the week. You want me to? Okay, here goes, in no particular order:

Battlestar Galactica (let's just get this out of the way, shall we?)
Dancing with the Stars (seriously, perhaps the truest, most likable reality show of all time)
Fairly Oddparents (the best cartoon on tv, today, and that's saying a lot)
24 ('nuff said)
South Park (the most relevant political/cultural satire of the last 10 years)
Monk (no. really. i always forget it's on, too. but this is a Great Show)
Read World/Road Rules Challenge (at least the vapid, shallow people with unrealistic problems are real)
The Office
My Name is Earl
House (
and it's in a hospital, too!)

and as a bonus- three new shows that are probably at the same level, but at least have compelling and/or charming characters:
Friday Night Lights (I watched it once-- even though it's about football, girls would love this show if they watched it)
The Nine (
absolutely compelling presence, all-around majorly strong performances)
Studio 60 (
absolutely charming characters, all-around majorly strong performances)

Now, I'm not saying that if you love this show, you're dumb or anything. Again, I generally enjoy it. But let's stop pretending that this show is anything more than a sex-filled hospital soap opera. Can we just please agree that 1) this show is not worth all of the hype it gets; 2) Meredith sucks; 3) Addison is the hottest girl on the show; 4)the characters are all pretty judgmental and unlikable; 5) Callie scares me; 6) McSteamy (an embarassingly terrible nickname) has ridiculously stupid facial hair; 7) Derek and Meredith will continue to breakup/gettogether/breakup/gettogether ad nauseum until you finally stop swooning/screaming. ...sigh...

thanks for listening, rant over.
-apk