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Should be back to normal

The thing that jumps out right away is that this is just a huge money grab for the NCAA.  More games equals more money, plain and simple.  Currently the NCAA is in the midst of an 11-year/$6B with CBS for the TV rights, which the NCAA is trying to get out of because the rights are probably even more valuable.  Expanding the tourney would be ridiculously lucrative for the NCAA.  You also have the slight benefit of more temporary jobs in the arenas where the games are played.

Another angle is that more schools would get to participate in the tourney, which would be potentially good for the schools, although it can be argued that mediocre coaches who normally would be fired if they didn’t make the cut, would receive a stay of execution because they wind up in the bracket.  There’s also the issue of how to handle the asymmetric bracket and what the competition would be like with “lower echelon” teams in there now.  There are often some lopsided outcomes in the first rounds and although I’m sure the #1 seed wouldn’t play #96, no one’s going to be as excited about the prospect of one low-ranked team upsetting a slightly higher ranked team.

I’m going to have to stick with, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it” on this one.

I missed this on Tuesday July 7th when it was actually shown on television so I decided to track down the online version while I sit at the computer. 10 Things I Hate About You is based on the movie of the same name, which is itself loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew. Now while I have not read the Shakespeare play, or seen the original movie I was still interested in catching this show.

The Stratford sisters are new to Padua High, but they already know one thing: Strategy is everything. Bianca (Meaghan Martin) is a beautiful social-butterfly determined to climb the heights of popularity, at any cost. Kat (Lindsey Shaw) is a strong-willed, in-your-face feminist who is looking to save the world and get out of high school as fast as she can. But the sisters soon realize it’s never smooth sailing when you’re navigating through a world filled with duplicitous head cheerleaders like Chastity (Dana Dave), love-struck nerds like Cameron (Nicholas Braun) and an over-protective dad (Larry Miller). Things only get more interesting as interactions with the school’s mysterious bad boy Patrick (Ethan Peck) start to shake things up.

Based on the hit movie starring Health Ledger and Julia Stiles.

Lindsey Shaw, from Aliens in America (a good show that was canceled), does a good job as Kat in the pilot as she can really pull off that girl with an attitude. Even though she is playing the exact opposite as her character in Aliens in America, she brings the same attitude just focused a bit differently. Meaghan Martin as Bianca was just blah. Nothing about her really stood out for me. Yes, I know she is just supposed to be a shallow girl, but make me feel the character. Dana Davis, who I remember from The Nine, played the part of Chastity perfectly. She is the head cheerleader and has all of the perks to go along with it. When she is in the process of dumping her boyfriend because he is not the starting quarterback, even though he is doing well as a male model, you know just how vain and trifling this girl can be. Larry Miller plays Kat and Bianca’s father which is reprising his role from the original movie back in 1999. A neat idea actually.

My wife said that the movie 10 Things I Hate About You was one of her favorites, I just do not see the series being something I am looking forward to each week. Nothing to really grab me and say, “Remember to watch me.”, or this show should be taking up valuable space on the DVR. See, for me, over the top stuff works better in a movie because you are not visiting the characters every week. When Kat hits Chasity’s car in the parking lot and admits it, the police are not involved at all? Her dad is not mad that her insurance is going to go through the roof? He doesn’t take away her license? Chasity’s father is on the board of directors so all the staff at the school fawns over her? Sure in a movie we are only asked to suspend belief for the duration of the movie, week after week it might be tough. See 10 Things I Hate About You is a comedy, but one that is trying to be grounded in reality.

They one thing that the show does well is the teenage drama portion of the show. From what I remember of high school they have it pegged pretty darn good. While I was probably more of a Cameron than the other characters, I do remember trying to talk to girls in High School and how difficult it could be. Also with Kat and Bianca as the new girls in school you realize all the little things on your first day that will follow you through your school career. I hated all those guys like Patrick, the bad boy, while I was in high school, and you know the writers are doing a good job, because I hate the character in the show as well.

One would think with the good acting and the decent writing I would like 10 Things I Hate About You, but I just feel indifferent about it at this point. I will probably try and watch another episode or two, but if I don’t, I will not be all that upset either. It might have a lot to do with the fact that the story of the pilot is just way played out. They need to inject some sort of twist or something. Too much of the same thing is what makes me a bit bored I think. Or maybe the whole series will feel that way, I am kind of leaning that way, but who knows maybe I will be surprised.

I think this whole review can be summed up by my wife after watching the pilot for the new HBO show Hung. “It just was not satisfying and it was too slow.” I will get into a bit more depth later.

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Ray Drecker’s situation couldn’t be much tougher. The former high school sports legend turned middle-aged high school basketball coach is divorced and struggling to provide for his kids when his already run-down house catches fire. Looking to take on a second job, Ray decides to exploit his best asset in a last-ditch attempt to change his fortunes.

Right from the get go, this seems like a crappier version of Showtime’s Californication, with the video work, framing, and even some characters feeling the same except that it is not funny. I stopped watching Californication after season 1 so this tells you where Hung is probably going to end up for me. The pilot itself I think was too heavy on the gloomy and downtrodden portion of Ray Drecker’s situation and did not have enough humor or focus on what will likely become his job away from work. The setup worked well, with the fire burning down the house forcing him into doing something, but still all too somber. I do not think the writers were really going for comedy when they created it, but it is tough to talk about things like the economy, class system, industrial America at the same time you are using your lead character to become a gigolo because he has a big penis. For all the social commentary I would have liked to see Hung as a “dramedy” a la Californication. Plus the plot seemed to drag along as we follow Ray finally hitting upon the idea of becoming a gigolo. You know you often wonder how those jocks from high school turn out, and it seems, like Ray, some of them are just one injury away from having a real crappy life.

Thomas Jane seemed familiar to me, but it was not until I went back and looked as his list of movies that I remember him from The Punisher. He seems like a pretty good choice to play the washed up jock of Ray, who has enough heart to not just throw in the towel when his neighbor wants to buy his house after the fire and knock it down. He loses the only other thing he had besides his house and that was the fact that his kids were living with him instead of their mother, but this changes by the end of the pilot. Anne Heche who plays Ray’s ex-wife also hit it with her portrayal of the cheerleader who gets sick of living the lower middle class wife and trades up, even if that means at the expense of the family. I did have a problem though, with the character of Tanya Skagle. I know Ray only had two one night stands with her, but I just do not see the character of Ray, even down on his luck, doing that (her). I think they should have cast someone a bit prettier for Tanya, but with the same amount of crunkyness.

Overall I am going to watch it again next week to make sure the pilot was not a fluke, but Hung is not living up to any expectations.

Best part of the episode: The fact that I did not have to see a penis on the television and props to HBO for not trying to slip it in there

How is it that a show that is two network hours long can be so boring for 1 hour and 50 minutes and then actually turn into something that has a remote chance to be interesting in the last 10 minutes? I guess that is why we have shows like Virtuality on Fox.

All of the people, which includes myself, that loved what Ron Moore did with Battlestar Galactica are ready to sip any flavor Kool-Aid that this man gives us. I can admit to being excited about this show, but then a weird thing happened, the show actually started. I can even take a look at the summary of the show after watching this mess and still say to myself, “How did this not work?” I find the idea pretty solid actually, and am sitting here wondering how it turned out so bad. From the wiki:

The story is set circa 2045, aboard the Phaeton, Earth’s first starship, on a ten-year journey to explore the nearby Epsilon Eridani star system. In order to help the crew endure the long mission, a system of virtual reality modules are installed aboard the ship. These modules allow the crew to assume various identities and enjoy a variety of adventures. The crew’s experiences aboard the ship are broadcast back to Earth as the reality television program The Edge of Never.

I think they missed one of the main points which was the fact that they are traveling to the Epsilon Eridani star system because Earth is flooding and has massive storms. Part of point of the show is that it seems the leaders of Earth, who now seem to run reality television, have not really told the people of Earth how bad things are. This was a movie that supposed to be a pilot for a television series so maybe that was the reason that the show was such a slow start. The actual cool plots of the ship going to Epsilon star system and the fact that they have a medical doctor that has his own problems with just finding out he has Parkinson’s Disease are overshadowed by this ghetto virtual reality mystery. I mean these people are killed in the VR world and suffer no effects, one would think heart attack or something similar, and it really only gets dangerous from the psychological side, but the script does not work well enough to show us how powerful that can be. Also how is this VR so powerful when it is just a bunch of glasses, I envision something like the Star Trek holodeck to recreate something like they are doing with some spray painted sun glasses. There is just not a lot of tension in this one episode with the VR glitch or hack that causes their modules to be invaded.

Some thoughts -

- People are complaining about the scene with the captain in the airlock, I think that it was just a practical joke to break up the tension that malfunctioned and just played out bad. I did not mind the scene at all

- I had a hard time telling Billie and Rika apart, and it was not because they looked so much alike, but rather that the story did not do a good job with the characters

- The fate of the Earth is a reality show? I know the networks will do a lot for ratings, but it seems to me this would have been better as a documentary and with a little more weight back on the fate of the Earth

- Clea Du Vall may not be the hottest actress, but she is pretty sexy I think

- Manny and Val who are the gay couple are written horribly, I think they say that themselves on the show, I mean reality tv, I mean this television movie

- Alice and Kenji are worthless for this episode, they did not have to even be there, which is just fat in the script, if you need them for later episodes use them in the first 2 hours better so that people will care about them

- I did think it was funny and cool how Billie was a rock star who is also a spy, with her whole band being spies as well in her VR module

- The virtual reality affair between the captain and Rika really brought some interesting discussion about what is cheating to mind, I thought they did a good job with bringing that subplot to the table

- Dr. Jimmy Johnson could have been an interesting character to watch play out if this had gotten picked up

Overall it was a great idea by Ron Moore with a psychological element, in a confined environment that just did not go anywhere. It could have used a rewrite, as the premise seems solid on paper at least. Is this a show that might have gotten better with some episodes under its belt? I think it stood a good chance at that, the problem is these days networks just do not like things grow, either you have a good pilot or a bad pilot. This episode was the poster child for bad pilot, so it is a wrap it looks like. The shows first episode was pretty crappy and that is the final rating from me, pretty crappy. The funny part is, since this show did not get picked up does that mean we will get more reality television on Fox to take the spot?

In an attempt to take in a little culture and better myself, I checked out the Newseum in Washington, DC this past weekend and I have to say, it may have overthrown the National Air and Space Museum as my favorite in DC. In the interest of full disclosure, I do enjoy history and documentaries quite a bit, so the Newseum was a natural. (It also didn’t hurt that Mark has a couple of contacts on the inside and was able to waive the $20 fee for himself and Ms. Mark)

The Newseum is a gigantic, interactive collection of galleries and theaters that cover the history of news from 500 years ago to an impressive display of the day’s (literally the day you are there) headlines from newspapers around the world. You first watch a 7-minute introduction video before you’re off to explore the 7 floors of exhibits. Yes, that’s 7 floors (over a quarter million square feet) so you have a full day, or better yet a couple of shorter days in front of you. I could have spend most of the day in the News History Gallery which sports over 30,000 newspapers.

A couple of exhibits deserve special mention: The Berlin Wall exhibit (complete with sections of the actual wall) was haunting and impressive and the 9/11 exhibit was potentially over-the-top as there is an antenna from one of the WTC towers on display along with the front pages of dozens of newspapers from around the world from September 12th. There is also a video compilation of eyewitness accounts from journalists who were at Ground Zero, which was a little hard to watch. Not that the screen was out of focus, but let’s just say Mark may have gotten something in his eye.

There were a few misses along the way. The exhibit “Manhunt: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer”, detailing the assassination of Abraham Lincoln seemed more of a commercial for the book of the same name and the 4-D “immersive experience” wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, but overall the Newseum is a must for anyone with any interest in the news or history in general. The kids will love the interactive news room where they can act as a reporter to get a story and even try to do a live newscast.

If I had to do my visit all over again, I would have definitely staked out where I was going to go as there is truly too much to see in one visit. Add to the fact that many of the exhibits are ever-changing as there is always new news and old news becomes history, it’s a guarantee that there will be something interesting to see regardless of when you show up.

The Newseum is at 555 Pennsylvania Ave, NW, DC. http://www.newseum.org

Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks is my kind of fantasy and it was nice that I got to read a complete trilogy in the course of a few months without a long wait between books. Weeks does what I usually attribute to Robin Hobb, and that is create characters I really give a crap about. Kylar Stern is another Fitz Chivalry and that is a huge accomplishment in my book. I am also a sucker for a good love story wrapped up inside my fantasy, and the Elene and Kylar story is one. I’m a softie for that sort of stuff, I will admit it. The characters in the book get to grow and they are not perfect, nor should they be. Weeks allows the reader to see their mistakes, and understand that they are “normal” people with faults like the rest of us. This is where the author shines, his ability to get the readers attached to the characters and then puts them in emotional situations.

Brent gives me a fantasy dish without all the crap that I do not like. I do not like books that have so many characters that I have to use the index to remeber who people are. Weeks gives us just enough characters to make it interesting. If your book feels like I am back in school studying, or if it is just plain confusing, or feels like the author is talking down to me, then screw that book. No worries here, Weeks is good on all accounts.

The authors writing style is fast paced with non stop action, which is great in this kind of epic fantasy. At the same time though Weeks keeps us attached to Kylar and all the secondary characters swirling around him. The story itself is not complex, but it does not need to be as the main thrust of the enjoyment of this story is character driven. Vi, Momma K, and Durzo sit at the top of my list as other well crafted characters in this story, being strong enough characters in their own right.

I felt the book ended a bit abruptly though, with all the loose ends coming together in a manner that was a bit quick for me. Dare I say that we might have actually had time to build to a fourth book instead? I do not know, but the Night Angel Trilogy fits into the fantasy that I like, and kicked ass. Weeks does answer most of the questions that the reader might have with the whats and whys of what happened. He also brings in bits and pieces from the first two books for continuity, which I always look for.

Kylar goes from ophan to hero at breakneck speed and even with the small flaws one can strain to find with the trilogy, at the end of the day, their is only one question that matters. Was it enjoyable? Very much so, Beyond the Shadows now sits as one of my favorite trilogies. Considering that this was Week’s first real work, I am looking forward to reading what else he puts out in the future.

Modeled after a Japanese game show, Silent Library will represent a new breed of competition format that will feature six friends, all vying for a cash prize, forced to impose unimaginable, beyond hysterical stunts on one another.

Within each episode, team members will repeatedly draw cards to determine who must step up to the plate to endure the next “test.” The teammate who unluckily draws the skull and cross bones card will have to complete the task at hand to the satisfaction of the wise cracking host and moderator of Silent Library. Should the teammate performing the stunt not last long enough or should their friends seated beside them erupt with uncontainable laughter… the cash prize on the line will decrease.

So last night was the night, the start of a show that might make the regular viewing schedule, or at least be a summer diversion. MTV has put out shows like Made, Yo Momma, and if we go old school Yo! MTV Raps, so I am not adverse to watching the once music channel for some entertainment.

Here are the problems that the show faces. The locale of the library is neat to start, but then you realize it is just a gimmick. The lady in the library that never says anything and just shakes her head gets old, and the announcer guy is forced to play this host role with facial expressions that are just stupid. Now the show itself…It seems even in the first episode that it became very repetitive by having to pick cards again after each challenge, and then even the challenges became the same, because the goal of each challenge is the same no matter which way you cut it…just do not laugh. The amount of money given for winning the challenges is also pretty damn low, which in my mind is always like, well how much money are they making from advertisers when they are only giving away under 5 grand each show. Also, if I am not drunk, how hard is it not to laugh for 30 damn seconds most of the time. Most normal people have this ability especially with money on the line. Plus the team makes it so much harder on each of their teammates like they are trying hard to get them to laugh. Me, I would just take it the easiest I could on the guy that drew the damn skull card so we could win the flipping money.

A game show usually needs the ability to follow along at home, or at least make you feel like you are rooting for a favorite person to make it interesting and Silent Library does not have either one. See how I can make this show so much cooler in the few minutes I thought about it? Make two fucking teams and have team 1 perform the challenge on a team 2 member and see if team 2 can keep from laughing. I don’t think that would save the show, but might make it a little more interesting. Also if you are going to have a lady in the library reading and shaking her head only, make her hot at least, not an old bitty. It becomes just another dumb ass game show that was semi-funny for the first few minutes of the first view and now put into obscurity.