Best of the Week vol. XXXVIII

Quote of the Week: Don’t use my faith as a cheap ploy Chambers. And I’m not one of those wussy, loving Christians, okay. I believe in a scary God who brings hellfire to sinners like you. (Dale, Greek)

Song of the Week: Jump Around – House of Pain (Mercy)

Big News of the Week: March Is Already Maddening: And my bracket is already busted. Maybe I should have actually used my own rules (see #4 of It’s March Madness Baby) which states The MAC Is Always Good for a Win. But of course not only did I go with Georgetown in the game; I advanced them to the Elite 8. Hurph. Maybe my worst first round ever (Marquette is another team I had in the Elite 8) since the nineties when I would routinely put Stanford in the Final Four and they would routinely lose in the first weekend.

Gratuitous Token Hot Chick Picture of the Week:




Free Download of the Week: ATO Records Sampler (atorecords.com): ATO Records (Dave Matthews record label) recently redesigned their websitye and are celebrating with free music from The EP includes music from Drive-By Truckers, Rodrigo y Gabriela, John Butler Trio, Dawes and Alberta Cross. Please note you will have to submit an e-mail address to download.

Deal of the Week: DVDs as Low as $6.49 (The Lost Boys, The Green Mile, Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride)

Video of the Week: The second episode of The Pacific airs tonight on HBO at 9:00. For those that missed the first episode, you can currently stream it over at HBO.com. And good news for those of us too cheap for premium channels, rumor has it that the mini-series will be released on DVD and Blu-Ray in time for Father’s Day. Now I just have to adopt a kid before then.



Next Week Pick of the Week: Justified, Tuesday at 10:00 on FX: Word on the street is as good as the first episode was, the second gets even better. And if you missed the premiere, you can currently download it for free and in HD on iTunes or Amazon Video on Demand (see below):

Around the Tubes vol. XLIII

I have gotten a plethora of cool press releases have been flooding my inbox recently that you may find interesting. This post will include blurbs on Friday Night Lights, Eureka, Chuck, Fox Movie Channel, Who Do You Think You Are, and Showtime’s summer schedule.

- Only six more weeks until Friday Night Lights returns to NBC and here is a collection of Coach Taylor’s “Greatest Hits”:

The Best of Coach Taylor


- For Battlestar Gallactica and Eureka fans alike, James Callis of the former will be joining the cast of the latter for its upcoming season. As the bio reads, “Callis will play scientist Dr. Grant, a former resident of the town whose unexpected return is cause for serious alarm and – considering his romantic interest in Allison Blake (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) – significant friction with Sherriff Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson).” Eureka is set to return July 9.

- Don’t tell Chuck Norris, but Casey from television’s Chuck has a new website that spouts Casey Facts such as, “In the dictionary, if you look up ‘John Casey’ a fist pops out and punches you in the face.”

- Fox Movie Channel has a new blog Unvaulted Blog by Liz Coopersmith focusing on films you may not have seen but should be aware of.

- Fans of Who Do You Think You Are will want to check out the latest Meet the Filmmaker podcast with Executive Producers Lisa Kudrow and Dan Bucatinsky along with Brooke Shields.

- Showtime recently released their summer schedule which goes like this (and do not forget Nurse Jackie and The United States of Tara return Monday at 10:00):

Thursday, June 10th
Penn & Teller: (Expletive Deleted)! – 10 pm
The Green Room with Paul Provenza – 10:30 pm

Sunday, June 20th
The Real L Word – 10 pm

Monday, August 16th
Weeds – 10 pm
The Big C – 10:30 pm

It's March Madness Baby! 2010 Edition

March became a little less mad for me this year after my alma mater, Kent State with their first seed in the MAC tournament, managed to lose their first game thus eliminating any change of making the big dance. I did get an e-mail inviting me to watch the Golden Flashes play in the NIT. Um, pass. All will be forgotten around noon tomorrow when hopefully I wioll be coming down with a case of the March Madness. Now keep in mind you may be better off taking advidse from your secretary, but here are my picks for the bracket this year.

West
Finals: Kansas (1) over Georgetown (3)
Upset: New Mexico State (12) over Michigan State (5)

South
Finals: Syracuse (1) over Kansas State (2)
Upset: BYU (10) over Florida (7)

Midwest
Finals: Kentucky (1) over Marquette (6)
Upset: Cornell (12) over Temple (5)

East
Finals: Villanova (2) over Duke (1)
Upset: I pretty much went scratch except 9 over 8 in the first round and 5 over 4 in the second round.

Final Four
Kansas over Syracuse
Villanova over Kentucky

Finals
Kansas over Villanova (62-50)

Previewing Justified

I never understood why some actors whine about being typecast especially if you are typecast as a character where there is an overabundance of like cops. Thankfully Timothy Olyphant apparently doesn’t care about being typecast because just four years after playing Sherriff Seth Bullock on Deadwood, Olyphant is back on the small screen as another lawman for the latest FX series, Justified.

Olyphant does get to fast forward to the twenty-first century with Justified (well considering the show is set in rural Kentucky, it may seem just the twentieth) and is upgraded to a Deputy U.S. Marshall, but after a shooting in his cushy Miami station gets shipped back to his Lexington home much to his chagrin which just happens to also be the landing place of his ex wife, played by Natalie Zea (Dirty Sexy Money), and her new husband.

Getting to hang around the water cooler with Olyphant include Nick Searcy (The Ugly Truth) as the Chief Deputy of the Lexington Office and shared time with Olyphant training firearms at the Marshals’ training facility. Jacobs Pitts (Eurotrip, no seriously, this is the same floppy haired dude from that movie) the show’s token War vet, because what show in the past couple years hasn’t featured someone that has fought in either Iraq or Afghanistan? Rounding out the group is Erica Tazel (Jericho).

Though there are no advisories as great as Al Swearengen, or even George Hearst for that matter, the antagonists, with their bazooka and swastika tattoos, are creepier than anything in Deadwood. The group is lead by Walter Goggins (House of a 1000 Corpses) whose brother has just been killed by his wife (Joelle Carter, High Fidelity) who just so happens to be cozying up to the recently returned Olyphant.

With Olyphant at the lead, you would think Justified would shy away from Deadwood comparisons, but there are plenty to have, and that is a good think. Much like Bullock, he still is the quickest, and most accurate, draw in the West. And with a network that seems to revel in leads that like to deal in shades of grey (Tommy Gavin, Jax Teller, Vic Mackey), Olyphant continues to have a strong moral compass and only draws when he needs to and still has the muted rage that Bullock did.

Justified is easily one of the best new shows of the season. The only problem is that it shares a time slot with one of the stiffest competition for that title, Parenthood.

Justified airs Tuesdays at 10:00 on FX.

Lyrics Quiz: Sports

February and early March is the doldrums of sports with very little things happening except every four years we get a thrilling Curling tournament to watch. But now it is time to get excited to be a sports fan again: March Madness, spring training, NHL draft and crunch time for the NBA and NHL with the playoffs around the corner. So here are some sports themed lyrics. As always leave your guesses, both artist and song title, in the comment section or e-mail me. If you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. Please keep in mind the lyrics quiz is for entertainment purposes only so please only use your own meandering mind to guess them. Now onto the lyric quiz:

1. So many times, it happens too fast. You trade your passion for glory. Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past.  (Eye of the Tiger - Survivor;  guessed by Curtis)
2. You can bring a bowl of rice and then a glass of water too. And fate is setting up the chessboard while death rolls out the dice.
3. He’s gonna slide in head first, here he comes, he's out! No, wait, safe, safe at second base, this kid really makes things happen out there.  (Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meat Loaf;  guessed by Angie)
4. Sometimes you’re crazy and you wonder why I’m such a baby that the Dolphins make me cry.  (Only Wanna Be with You - Hootie an the Blowfish;  guessed by Curtis)
5. It’s ironic: I had the brew, she had the chronic; The Lakers beat the Supersonics.  (It Was a Good Day - Ice Cube;  guessed by Rose)
6. I used to think that I could not go on and life was nothing but an awful song. But now I know the meaning of true love I’m leaning on the everlasting arms.  (I Believe I Can Fly - R. Kelly;  guessed by Angie)
7. You got blood on your face, a big disgrace, waving your banner all over the place.  (We Will Rock You - Queen;  guessed by Curtis)
8. Shadow boxing when I heard you on the radio. Uh, I just don’t know what made you forget I was raw.  (Mama Said Knock You Out - LL Cool J;  guessed by Rose)
9. Kids were wearing hand me downs. And playing games meant kick-a-rounds. And footballers still had long hair and dirt across their face.  (I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker (With a Flower in my Hair) - Sandi Thom;  guessed by Rose)
10. I had a friend who was great a baseball player back in high school. He could throw that speed ball by you, make you look like a fool.  (Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen;  guessed by Angie)
11. And he carries the reminders of every glove that laid him down, or cut him ‘til he cried out in his anger and his shame, “I am leaving, I am leaving.”  (The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel;  guessed by Anonymous)
12. White men in suits don’t have to jump. Still there is 101 ways to lose with the shoes.
13. You know I took some lumps when the mighty Casey struck out. So say hey Willie, tell Ty Cobb and Joe DiMaggio, “Don’t say it ain’t so.”  (Centerfield - John Fogerty;  guessed by AJ)
14. One punch, that’s all it took he hit me in my ribs and my insides shook. Now how can I say this and be a little discreet, let’s just say that my bowels released.  (I Think I Can Beat Mike Tyson - D.J.  Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince;  guessed by Angie)
15. Do my best to follow through, come up with a master plan, a home run hit, a winning stand. A guarantee and not a promise that I’ll never let your love slip through my hands.
16. 'Cause when it comes to playing basketball I’m always last to be picked and in some cases never picked at all. So I just lean upon the wall or sit up in the bleachers with the rest of the girls who came to watch their men ball.
17. The arena is empty except for one man still driving and striving as fast as he can. The sun has gone down and the moon has come up, and long ago somebody left with the cup.  (The Distance - Cake;  guessed by AJ)
18. If Jesus is paying LeBron, I’m paying Dwayne Wade.  (Empire State of Mind - Jay-Z featuring Alicia Keys;  guessed by Curtis)
19. Rubin could take a man out with just one punch, but he never did like to talk about it all that much. It’s my work he’d say and I do it for pay.
20. My helmet is equipped with a tiny face mask, what it possibly could protect, I do not know. The other guys on the team like to make fun of my little shoulder pads. And also like to hide the special shoe I need to kick in the snow.
21. Referee won’t blow the whistles. God is good but will he listen?  (Staring at the Sun - U2;  guessed by Angie)
22. Look, if you had one shot, or one opportunity to seize everything you ever wanted. One moment. Would you capture it or just let it slip?  (Lose Yourself - Eminem;  guessed by Curtis)
23. You will see him on TV any given Sunday, win the Super Bowl and drive off in a Hyundai.  (Gold Digger - Kanye West featuring Jamie Foxx;  guessed by Curtis)
24. Ain’t no (lovin’) good enough to get burnt while I’m up in it. And that is realer than Real Deal Holyfield.
25. He’ll never love you, the way that I love you ‘cause if he did, no no, he wouldn’t make you cry. He might be thrillin’ baby but a-my love so dog-gone willing.

Bonus: He came from Miami, was oh, so young. He riffles to the Wizard, my what a gun.

57 Channels and Only This Is On vol. CXXI

Chuck: I rarely yell at my television, even during sports (okay, I do yell at the sweepers during Curling, but that is about it) but when Casey was talking about shipping Morgan out of town I was screaming that they do that. As painfully annoying as Morgan is now, he is probably going to be much worse now that he knows Chuck is a spy. And if sitting through too much Morgan wasn’t enough for one episode, even the Jeffster musical interlude was even lackluster. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Chuck on iTunes.

How I Met Your Mother: When did everyone decide Jennifer Lopez was relevant again? She recently pulled double duties on Saturday Night Live (just days after her record company pulled her latest album and dumped her) and now doing a guest stint here. Shouldn’t she be at a Dancing with the Has-Been’s point in here career? You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com. You can also download How I Met Your Mother on iTunes.

Greek: Aww, Mardi Gras. I really never got it on account that I am not Catholic and thus do not give anything up for Lent. But my favorite part of Fat Tuesday is to point out at around 1:00 AM to those that did give up debauchery for Lent that Ash Wednesday technically started an hour ago. Fun times. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Castle: The actors really seemed to have way too much fun filming this episode for obvious reasons. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu. You can also download Castle on iTunes. Also be sre to check out my chat with Stana Katic.

Lost: Let’s jump into my patent pending time machine all the way back to last week when I joked, “And now (Ben) is best friends with his father! And his daughter is now the sexy French nanny to his kids!” Granted I would have guessed that Alex was one of his students had I thought she was that young (shouldn’t she be in her twenties?). Even though this was the best episode this season, it still got a little too tongue and cheek for my tastes. By the end I was half expecting Arntz to blow up again. You can stream recent episodes on Hulu.



Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains: Are the Heroes really this dumb that they can take leads into all the challenges and just completely come apart while doing a puzzle that two of them did before? It has become painful to watch them now. But judging from the promo it looks like they may be saved from another Tribal and we will be getting an epic showdown between Boston Rob and Russell. Just remember that the show airs Wednesday next week due to March Madness. You can stream recent episodes over at cbs.com.



Community: No truer scene has been filmed than the one at the end of the episode. I am right there with you Jeff and Peirce. You can stream current episodes on Hulu. You can also download Community on iTunes.