babbling blue

I’ve been rather derelict in my blogging duties, but at least I’ve kept true to my word in not posting when I don’t have something to say. This will be a post of brief mini-updates just to keep all 2-3 of your readers apprised of the exciting goings on in my life!

First, how do I love gmail? Let me count the ways… No there are too many. But in addition to the constantly growing mailbox size limit (I’m using 6% and I have “thousands” of emails), they keep adding cool new shit. For one, I think the new color tagging is nifty. But it is nothing compared to the ability to sign on to AIM through gmail! How cool is that. For those of us “secured” behind overzealous corporate firewalls during much of our day, gmail’s chat can be our only communication with the outside world. . . and link to sanity. But I didn’t know many people who used gtalk/gmail chat. However, that’s rather moot now since I can chat on AIM right in the gmail web client, firewalls be damned. Thanks, Google.

Second, we got our second real snow of the season last night. It was pretty but a minor pain to trudge through this morning before many sidewalks were shoveled. I’m sure I’ll be tired of the snow in . . . 8 minutes.

Third, I went to Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico over the Thanksgiving holiday. My Thanksgiving dinner was fajitas, and much of the day was spent at the pool or beach. I had a freakin’ blast! I love it there. All I have to say is: Pinga, pinga, pinga!

Finally, I knew it was only a matter of time before I did it. Yesterday I was trying to call my cell phone from my desk phone so I could check my voicemail (terrible cell reception in this high rise) and I dialed 911 by mistake. As soon as I saw the number on my display I hung up, thinking I had been fast enough and the call hadn’t gone through yet. But I was mistaken. The 911 Center called me back immediately, and I sheepishly told the operator it was a mis-dial. At least she seemed friendly.

One of the things I don’t like about fall is the bipolar weather. There are really only two seasons around this part of the country: winter and summer. Fall and spring are merely extended transitions between the two.

One of the things I do like about fall is the proliferation of pumpkin products. I am a big fan of all things pumpkin, especially pumpkin pie. I have noticed the various coffee places advertising their pumpkin drinks. So far I’ve tried a pumpkin latte from Dunkin’ Donuts and a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks. To my surprise, I liked the DD version better. The Starbucks latte didn’t have enough pumpkin (or spice) flavor and was just rather bland overall. The DD latte was sweet but not too sweet with a noticeable pumpkin flavor. My plan is to try Au Bon Pain’s pumpkin spice latte next, when I have the patience (the ABP near my office doesn’t sell many espresso beverages and they are always very slow when they have to make one, if you can even find the person to order from).

I had a pumpkin muffin from ABP this morning. It was OK, but not quite pumpkiny enough for my tastes. The quest for the best pumpkin breakfast pastry is only beginning. I’ll keep you posted on it as well as any new developments on the pumpkin coffee drink front. I know you want to know.

I needed an afternoon pick-me-up, so I just bought a can of Pepsi out of the vending machine at work.

When I used to work on a different floor here, the vending machine was laid out differently. On my old floor, cans of Pepsi were found in slot B9. I told myself that must be a sign that drinking Pepsi was actually good for me, despite all evidence to the contrary. (Get it? B9. . . benign? I debated on whether or not I should explain this, but decided I probably should.) Of course I didn’t really believe that. But now that I’m up a few floors higher, Pepsi is in B1 and B2. And it doesn’t seem as good for me any more. I have no empirical evidence to support this, but I suspect I may be buying less Pepsi now. It’s strange how symbolism can work on our minds sometimes, even when it’s completely irrational and we know it!

However, I just discovered something good! Pepsi is “VERY LOW SODIUM”! I know this because it tells me so right above the Nutrition Facts. Never mind the 41g of sugar or the 150 calories. A can of Pepsi contains only 1% of my daily sodium intake! And if that isn’t benign, I don’t know what is.

I now have a cat. Her name is Dusty, but she seems to think it’s “Baby”. She’s pretty, but very shy. Once I’m able to get a picture of her I’ll post one on here.

Dusty is around 3 years old (I keep forgetting to ask her exact age) so she is a slightly used cat. But that’s OK.

One of my favorite things in the world is Doritos. I love ‘em. Put a bag in front of me and I’ll scarf half of it down in minutes. Nothing goes better with Doritos than Pepsi. They are both Pepsico products. . . I think they are engineered to cause some kind of chemical effect in the brain akin to pure bliss when consumed together. It’s addictive. But Doritos and Pepsi are both so bad for you; I really try to avoid them when I can. I do not always succeed.

There have been a number of new varieties of Doritos lately. Some of them are wretched (like “Black Pepper Jack”. . . I couldn’t even finish one of those Big Grab bags) but some of them have potential. I noticed another new variety in the vending machine at work, and ponied up the 65 cents to give it a try.

As it turns out, they were pretty darn good. I don’t know if they’ll ever come up with a flavor better than the Big 2 (”Nacho Cheese” and “Cool Ranch“), but if you’re looking for something different, give the “Blazin’ Buffalo & Ranch” a try. They are a bit spicy, but not obnoxiously so. . .I’d say juuuust right. I saw a full size bag of these at the store last night, and it took all my willpower not to put one in my basket.

This is NOT something I’d actually talk about in person. You’d look at me funny. But since this is the internet, you can’t see me (nyeah nyeah!) so I figured I’d just go for it. I’m sure other people think about these things. Right?

I don’t like using toilets in public restrooms, and ideally I’d avoid them altogether. Unfortunately I don’t have quite that level of control over my body’s systems. So I have to use them. I figure since I can’t avoid them I should make the experience as painless as I can.

Thus I have a favorite toilet at work. Normally in public restrooms I gravitate toward the handicap stalls (there’s a funny “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode that involves the use of the handicap stall) because they are spacious and I don’t feel so boxed in. They’re also often along the wall. However, here I went with a regular stall, but one in an ideal location. It’s along the wall so there can only be a person on one side of you. But the next stall over has a door that doesn’t stay closed, so it’s not used much. And while the other stalls are across from the urinals, this one is on its own across from a section of hall that doesn’t get much use. It’s almost like my own little private bathroom!

I am sure I put way too much thought into this. But hey, I’m a thinker. I can’t help it. So dear readers, do any of you want to own up to having a favorite toilet stall in some frequented public restroom? You know you want to!

While I’m on the topic of bathrooms, I want to spend a moment on automatic restroom fixtures. We have automatic sinks and urinals, but not toilets. Thank God! I HATE automatic toilets. I guess most people must sit stiff as a board while they do their business. But heaven forbid you lean forward or something and *FLUSH* your ass gets all wet unless you jump up really fast. The auto urinals are fine. I’m not a huge fan of the automatic sinks, but they’re better than the “push” kind where you push down on the knob(s) and water runs for a few seconds before you have to push again with soapy hands. Plus, they just put new auto faucets in our bathrooms. I think they use less water, but they also have more reliable sensors than the old ones. Gotta love technology! Except on toilets. Or towel dispensers. We don’t have auto towel dispensers either, which is good. I hate those too.

Ok, enough talk about the water closets. Have a nice weekend!

Being a liberal and a bit of a geek, I am naturally drawn to NPR (National Public Radio). But who actually listens to the radio any more? I don’t. But thanks to the miracle of podcasts, I can get my fix.

And of the numerous quality NPR programs, my favorite is most definitely “Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me”. For those of you not as in the know as I, “Wait Wait” is a weekly news quiz show, recorded Thursday night in Chicago and broadcast on the radio on Saturday morning. But of course, as previously mentioned, those of us who have little use for the radio (or Saturday mornings) can get the podcast. (Or we can go to a taping, which I’ve done and plan to do again.)

The show is a perfect combination of comedy and information. It includes a host (Peter Sagal), an announcer (NPR newsman Carl Kassell) and a panel of three minor celebrities that changes from week to week. Frequent guests include Paula Poundstone, (Ho)Mo Rocca, P.J. O’Rourke and Roy Blount, Jr. There are also regular people that call in and participate and usually another celebrity call-in guest. When I was at the taping, it was S. Epatha Merkerson (a.k.a. Lt. VanBuren on “Law & Order”). A couple weeks ago it was Sally Jesse Raphael, who was actually quite funny.

The prize the contestants win if they’re successful in whatever news-related challenge they are presented with is Carl Kassell’s distinctive voice on their answering machine. The panelists compete and get points, but just to have fun.

The latest episode was taped after Cheney’s semi-successful legal-eagle hunting expedition and it’s hilarious. Of course with an event like that, the jokes practically write themselves. But they had some good ones.

Now that you’re done reading this, go download the podcast and listen.

I said “now”.

Those of you who know me well know that I watch a lot of TV. I mean, a lot of TV. It’s my number 1 hobby. Hey, don’t look at me like that. Everyone needs a hobby and I’m very good at mine. Okay?

I watch so much TV that it’s very tough to pick a few shows and say that they’re my favorites. But I’m going to try. So here is another installment in the “My Favorite Things” series. I am limiting myself this time to shows currently in production. Here they are, in no particular order.

“The Wire” on HBO
This is a cop show, plus. It’s not a crime procedural of the likes of “Law & Order” or “CSI”. Rather it’s a drama in which we see both sides of the coin, cops & robbers (or in most cases drug dealers). In both cases we get a glimpse of how the characters’ work affects their lives. Extremely well written and acted and produced.

“24” on FOX
Unless you live under a rock, you probably at least know about this show. It’s a show that takes place in “real time”, each episode lasting an hour and each season taking one day. It revolves around Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) a Los Angeles counter-terrorist agent. In every season lots of people die and things blow up. While they often take considerable liberties with the real-time format, it’s a great action/suspense show unlike anything else.

“Boston Legal” on ABC
It’s really the actors that make this show great, though it’s also pretty well-written. The show features Candace Bergen (you know, Murphy Brown), Renee Auberjonois (Constable Odo from “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and James Spader (the only actor left from “The Practice” from which this show was spun off). But the man who really makes the show is William Shatner. I’m serious. “Denny Crane!” The show is theoretically a legal drama, but it’s more of a dramedy as it’s constantly making me laugh.

“Arrested Development” on FOX
The only sitcom to make the list. This show is brilliant. Perhaps it’s too brilliant, since while it’s a critical darling it’s done mediocre in terms of ratings and always seems to be on the verge of cancellation. The theory I’ve seen espoused online is that the show is too clever for the average viewer. Maybe it is. I’m behind on this show by quite a bit. Thanks to Netflix, I’m catching up though. The show revolves around the quirky Bluth family, whose patriarch (Jeffrey Tambor) was arrested for various white-collar crimes. The most sane adult in the family, Michael (Jason Bateman) is trying to keep everything together. I can’t do it justice in a paragraph. Watch it for yourself!

“The Shield” on FX
A very gritty and realistic (from what I hear) cop show. There are a lot of excellent characters portrayed by an extremely talented cast, but the center about which the show revolves is Detective Vic Mackey (Michael Chiklis, who apparently got demoted since “The Commish”). Mackey is a dirty, violent cop. But strangely enough he seems to mean well. He’s constantly haunted by the fact that he once killed a fellow cop and covered it up. This show loves to push the limits and I always look forward to the next episode.

I don’t want to make this too long, so I’ll stop there. But I want to include a few honorable mentions that I’d feel remiss in leaving out. They are: “Jeopardy!”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Family Guy”, “Nip/Tuck”, “Commander in Chief”, “MI-5″ (”Spooks” on BBC), “Without a Trace”.

If you follow any of the same shows and want to chat about ‘em, let me know.

Edit: I realized when I saw a commercial for it last night that I forgot to include “Prison Break” as an honorable mention.

In the “strange coincidences” category, the day after my post on “Match Game” I played Trivial Pursuit Pop Culture Edition. There was a question to which the answer was “Match Game” referring, of course, to the very game show I was just writing about. I got it right and got a piece of the pie for it!

In other strange coincidences. . . I have two half brothers. One from my mom and one from my dad. They are very close in age and build, despite not being related to each other. In fact, I don’t recall them ever having met each other. If they did, it was many years ago. I saw them both over Christmas and was struck by not only their similar size, but that they both have long hair and goatees.

Anyway, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas or is enjoying a festive Chanukah or just enjoyed their time off or holiday pay. I took the whole week off to be extra lazy.

I’ve decided to try to make this blog a little more personal and to lighten the tone a bit, which has been very serious lately.

So I’m going to do a series of posts about some of my favorite things. They won’t be in any particular order. I’m just going to post them as they come to me (spread out over time). I’ll be adding a new category to hold these. Anyway, with no further ado, the first of my favorite things:

I like game shows. In particular, I like the “Match Game,” the best game show of all time, bar none. While the show went through numerous incarnations, the best and most popular (and the only ones you can see today) were hosted by Gene Rayburn. While nowhere near as prolific as such game show host greats as Bert Convey, Bill Cullen or Chuck Woolery, Gene was loveable, quick-witted and had an excellent rapport with both contestants and celebrity panelists.

The show originally aired from 1962 to 1969 on NBC. Apparently few of these episodes remain (one source says only 11 out of 1,760–which is very sad), and they are not seen at all today. When the show reappeared in 1973 on CBS, the rules changed a great deal. These episodes starting in 1973 are the ones that are showed today on GSN. There was also a “Match Game PM” version, similar to the daytime version, also hosted by Rayburn. In fact, after the original version in the 60’s, there were three Rayburn-hosted versions, all similar. One from 73-79, called “Match Game ‘73″ (or whatever the year was) on CBS (over 1,400 episodes!), the syndicated “PM” version which ran at night from 75-81 and the syndicated daytime show simply called “Match Game” from 79-82.

The basic premise of the show is that contestants (regular people) try to match answers with a panel of six celebrities on fil in the blank questions. To really appreciate the show, one has to watch it. The show’s regular celebrities were Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson. But there were many others that made frequent appearances, including Betty White, Bill Daily and Vicki Lawrence. The interaction among Gene and the celebs and the humor that often ensued, especially from questions designed to be potentially racy, was priceless.

Another version of the show also aired, though I’ve never seen it. It was “The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hours” from 83-84 hosted half by Gene Rayburn and half by Jon Bauman. It obviously combined “Match Game” with “Hollywood Squares”. Two unsuccessful revivals were attempted in the 90’s, one hosted by Ross Shafer and the other by Michael Burger. None of these still air, though I would like to see them (as well as the original 60’s version) for myself to see how they compare to the others.

Sadly, a revival of the show which might have succeeded was scrapped before it happened. Everything was set to go in 1987 to start the show up again, with Gene Rayburn as the host. But an episode of “Entertainment Tonight” aired before the show started taping which reported Rayburn’s true age as 70, instead of the early-to-mid-sixties that the producers had believed. The version was scrapped, as it was believed that Rayburn was “too old.” A lost golden opportunity. Ah well.

This concludes my first “Favorite Things” post. I hope you enjoyed. If you get GSN watch the “Match Game”. Tell ‘em Josh sent you!

Match Game links:
Match Game.org (watch out for pop-up ads)
Match Game ‘75/Match Game PM