For the extended weekend I spent the whole time waterproofing my deck. Well actually I spent the whole weekend powerwashing the deck to get it in condition to waterproof it which I finally got it clean enough to do today. On a side note, I’m not entirely sure what I hate more in this world powerwashing wood or stripping wallpaper. But anyways. Since I just got done minutes ago and don’t have the time or really the will power to write anything new, I thought I’d clean out my inbox of a few press releases that have piled up but never really had a time to post. Hopefully some you find them useful:
I missed Kyle XY last year when it first aired mostly because one look at the dude with no belly button totally freaked me out. For those that didn’t find that creepy and enjoyed the first season I’m happy to tell you that the new season starts June 11th on ABCFamily. For those who missed the season, I may or may not be able to help you out with that in the near future. And if you are thinking about jumping in for the second season, here is a synopsis:
More questions arise and the risk of danger escalates in the second season of the hit ABC Family original series Kyle XY. Kyle begins to learn the truth about his past, but under the strict training of Tom Foss, he must also learn the full scope of his abilities. And all of this must be kept secret -- even from the Tragers, who just want to help him return to the life of a normal teenager. Kyle must learn to live with his double life and the unknown dangers that lurk outside the family’s walls. The peril only increases when the girl in the pod is set free and is on the hunt for Kyle. But can Kyle keep the threats away or will they come straight through the Trager’s front door? Kyle XY stars Matt Dallas, Marguerite MacIntyre, Bruce Thomas, April Matson, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Chris Olivero, Kirsten Prout and Jaimie Alexander.
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I have long since left the target MTV demografic, though I still catch the latest Real World/Road Rules Challenge, so I doubt that Vmtv is something I use. But if you still catch all there shows, this may be for you:
Vmtv is a virtual MTV world where users can create an avatar, meet new people, shop and try on new clothes, chill at the beach, club hop and hit the dance floor. Buy a virtual car and pimp it out, hit the road or the track to show off their racing skills. Become a fashion designer, make and sell their own clothing and enter the fashion challenges!
Hang out with celebrities such as the cast of Pimp My Ride, The Hills, Laguna Beach, and musical guest like Korn, Linkin Park, MIMS, Mario and more to be announced! Fans can experience Spankin New Music Week with new music, special guests and smokin' hot events all in Virtual MTV!
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One thing I have been meaning to check out for a while but it was sent to me right around the time I had finals and I may check it out later now that I ran across the e-mail again is MixSherpa.com. According to the e-mail it is a Sprint sponsored website where you can create personalized music playlists and receive commentary on your lists from the voices of MixSherpa.com, Ian Westbury and DJSupahboy5. Once you create your playlist, Ian and DJ will recommend a song to compliment your playlist choice. I should really check this one out because they offered me free stuff (although I’m not entirely sure if it for me or to give away).
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Speaking of free stuff, I was going to wait to talk about it until I actually got it, but I should be receiving a copy of That Thing You Do! Director’s Cut soon to review and here is a lengthy press release:
FOX HOME ENTERTAINMENT CELEBRATES THE WORK OF ONE OF HOLLYWOOD’S “BIG”GEST STARS
Two All New Two-Disc Editions Of Big and That Thing You Do Available May 8, 2007 Nearly Twenty Five Minutes Longer, Big Extended Edition Features A Huge Selection Of Bonus Materials Including Eight Deleted Scenes
That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut Includes An Additional Thirty Nine Minutes Of Footage With A Myriad Of Bonus Features
CENTURY CITY, Calif. – You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing! Fox Home Entertainment presents a collection showcasing the work of one of the silver screen’s most accomplished actors. With his outstanding performances and ability to charm audiences by playing the lovable everyman, two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, 1993; Forrest Gump, 1994) has become one of cinema’s most recognizable and critically acclaimed actors. Now, Fox Home Entertainment brings all-new, two-disc editions of two of his brilliant accomplishments to DVD on May 8, 2007 – Big Extended Edition and That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut. Each film is available individually for the suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S. / $25.98 Canada.
One of the most beloved comedy gems of the past 20 years, Big garnered Hanks his first Academy Award nomination and was ranked number 15 on Premiere magazine’s list of “100 Greatest Performances of All Time” for his portrayal of Josh Baskin, a boy who wishes to be “big” and virtually transforms into a childish middle-aged adult overnight. The Big Extended Edition is 25 minutes longer than the original film, includes never-before-seen deleted scenes with optional introductions from director Penny Marshall, two behind-the-scenes featurettes and much more.
Hanks steps behind the camera for That Thing You Do, his feature film directorial debut about the brief success of a fictional rock band in the 1960s. Also written by Hanks, the That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut is thirty nine minutes longer and comes loaded with special features including commentary by cast members, several all new featurettes, an HBO “Making Of” documentary and the music video for Josh Clayton’s “Feel Alright.”
DVD Features: Each title in The Tom Hanks Promotion is available in Widescreen and is presented in English Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.
Special features include: Big Extended Edition: • Extended cut of Big feature film with an additional twenty five minutes of footage • Big Brainstorming – Audio documentary by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg using archival audio material of the original creation of the script • Eight deleted and extended scenes with optional introductions by director Penny Marshall • “Backstory: Big” featurette • “Carnival Party Newswrap” vignette • “Big Beginnings” featurette • “Chemistry of a Classic” documentary • “The Work of Play” featurete • TV spots and theatrical trailers That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut: • Extended cut of That Thing You Do feature film with thirty nine minutes of additional footage • “Making That Thing You Do” featurette • The Story Of The Wonders” featurette • That Thing You Do Reunion • “The Wonders – Big in Japan” featurette • “The Making of That Thing You Do” – HBO first look • “That Thing You Do Title Song Submissions” • TV spots and theatrical trailers Synopses: Big Extended Edition: The classic story about a boy who grew up overnight is back in an all-new, all-grown up Director’s Cut DVD! Featuring a wish-list of never-before-seen special features including a audio commentary by director Penny Marshall, deleted scenes, five featurettes and more, this “hilarious” (Newsweek), “nimble comedy” (The Hollywood Reporter) has never been bigger! All twelve-year-old Josh Baskin wants is to be big. But when his wish is granted beyond his wildest dreams, Josh finds a new face in the mirror… his own, at age 30. Now, aided only by his boisterous best friend, he’ll have to keep the secret of his true age as he tries to fill his own oversized shoes. But as his innocent charms help him rise to the top of the adult world, Josh will face the biggest decision of his life – return to his own age, or remain big forever!
That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut: Tom Hanks writes, directs and co-stars in this refreshing, big-hearted comedy that captures the overnight triumph of an American rock band during the glory days of rock and roll. When a young appliance salesman agrees to fill-in for an injured drummer in a local talent show, four shooting stars Page 3 of 3 are born. Faster than you can say "That Thing You Do," a Play-Tone Records executive (Hanks) signs the group and catapults them to fame as their signature tune skyrockets to the top of the charts!
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Lastly, for those who won my Win a Copy of Neptune Noir Contest, I sent along your e-mails to the people who will handle the shipping this past weekend so you should be expecting that soon. If you didn’t win be sure to head over to the BenBella website to order a copy.
There have been a couple of videos that have caught my eye lately so I though I’d give them some love since the death of Musical Television left a void for a forum on the art form so here they are courtesy of YouTube. I advise you to watch them before you read my reviews if you don’t want me to spoil things. If you are interested in buying the video through iTunes, click the title link (where available, if not the link goes to YouTube where you can watch the video in full screen). If you are interested in buying the song, look for a link in the analysis.
As you would expect from a Hype Williams directed video, the visuals are striking. I not sold on the song yet. Not only has Kanye West released two of the best rap albums this decade, you can make an argument he has made two albums that stand up with the best over any genre this decade. But of his new songs he has released this song, also including Classic, are just good, not great. Well the Throw Some D’s Remix was great but in a “Weird Al” kind of way. But we will have to wait until November until we can hear Graduation in full. If you really like the video click the link above the video where you can download Can’t Tell Me Nothing on iTunes for the low, low price of Free.
Speaking of directors who always have striking visuals, Michel Gondry, best known for his Lego’s inspired clip for The White Stripes, has another great video, this time for Paul McCartney. And maybe taking a cue from Bob Dyan, who put Scarlett Johansson in his latest video, Sir Paul has countered with Natalie Portman. Unfortunately she plays a ghost. Oh well.
Speaking of The White Stripes, Jack is back with his, umm, wherever he’s calling Meg these days. And the time apart seemed to do some good because after relying on a full time bass guitar, Jack seems rejuvenated for his main band. Though I’m not sure I really want a thinly veiled political statement from the duo.
Speaking of, okay, I really can’t tie in Timbaland here (though he does name from Kanye’s Golddigger). But really you can’t go wrong when combining The Hives (remember them, they had the uber-catchy Hate to Say I Told You So a couple years back), comic book cells, and hot WWF chick. But I guess it has been a while since I have watch wresting because I don’t recognized many of these girl, nor did I know it is no longer the WWF. But what is with the “To be continued…” Are we actually going to see more of this? I’m a little skeptical because I am still waiting for the conclusion of that .38 Special video, which sadly has yet to show up on YouTube yet.
Quote of the Week: Rob Thomas is a whore. (Piz - Veronica Mars)
Song of the Week: Bad Day - Daniel Powder (as sung by Ronnie, Veronica Mars)
Big News of the Week: Scooter Loosens His Dislike for All the New Fall Shows: For those that saw My 2006-2007 Television Schedule you would have noticed there were absolutely no new shows on it. But after reading Herc from Ain’t It Cool most anticipated list I have warmed up a little, and by a little, just one show: Pushing Daisies. The whole dude reanimating dead people just didn’t sound very good to me until I saw it was created by Bryan Fuller who just so happened to create the number one reason why I no longer watch Fox: Wonderfalls. Not so coincidentally. One of the two episodes he wrote for Heroes, Company Man, was the best of the first season. Then the show stars Lee Pace, the male lead from Wonderfalls as the guy with the magic touch, Chi McBride, another one of my favorite who also stared in a show that Fox prematurely gave the ax Boston Public as a private investigator who looks to be more Vinnie Van Lowe than Keith Mars, as well as Anna Freil who, surprised, was star of the short lived Fox show, but nonetheless great The Jury, as Pace’s first kiss who happens to be one of the dead he brought back to life. Luckilt the show doesn’t air on Fox but you can instead watch Pushing Daisies this fall Wendsdays at 8:00 on ABC. Here’s a clip:
Celebrity Fit Club: Men vs. Women: Usually I am a casual viewer of this show, but I have turned in every week and finally the moment I have been waiting for when Screech made the karaoker cry and almost got Harvey to kill him. Now that’s television. Also be sure to hunt down the extended uncencored version where Harvey, after threatening Screech tells everyone to “put that on V-Spot.” Classic. But I have to wonder why after they switched up the teams last week they are still calling this installment Men vs. Women.
Heroes: Last year I declared the last Supernatural (see Dad's on a Hunting Trip) episode the worst season finale ever and even though the Heroes finale didn’t change that assumption, it came pretty close thanks to the completely inane ending. I understand why Nathan would sacrifice himself for his brother but Peter should have turned around and sacrificed himself because Nathan has more to live for, a wife, kids, one of which he just met, and his new public office. But really, it never came across Nathan’s mind to just tell Peter he should fly out of the atmosphere? But my biggest complaint is that Mohinder, Nikki and Noah (yeah that was uber-lame) were in New York even though they were alive in the future yet nothing happened that would lead them to being at that place at that time unlike Nathan and Hiro who knew the future and knew something needed to change. But the show did get some things right, I liked the introduction of next season’s Big Bad when the locator system said he can see her when she thinks about him. I wonder if we have met him yet. Unfortunately this season’s Big Bad will still be lurking around. Bad idea. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Veronica Mars: One thing I forgot to mention in my original post (see: I Like This Show, it’s Tawdry or Rob Thomas Is a Whore) was how the first episode eerily mentioned two subjects from the two classes I took during the spring semester. First one of the fake ID’s used the name Leonardo Fibonacci and I spend time studying Fibonacci Numbers (don’t ask) and I learned how to encode things, in fact I can play a game of head or tails over the phone without either player cheating (again, don’t ask). Check out the latest episodes over at cwtv.com or download the whole season at iTunes.
Lost: One thing I forgot to mention in my original post (see: Guys (Dramatic Pause) Where Are We) and surprisingly I didn’t see this anywhere else so maybe I was just seeing things, but if I wasn’t then either Carol Vessey is getting chunky or Jack’s ex-wife is pregnant. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip: It was hard getting back into this show after so long without a Matt, Danny, or Jordan sighting. And even though I love the “Rob Thomas is a whore” line, Aaron Sorkin’s self deprecating The West Wing humor just fell flat. Well except the drunken lines from Jack. Seriously, he is at his best when inebriated (see also The Wrap Party). Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
This Summer’s Pick: Friday Night Lights, Sunday’s 9:00 NBC: Here is your chance to catch up on the best new show from last season that is actually returning for a sophomore season. or those that a already into the show, be sure to head over to Give Me My Remote where you can win a script from the show signed by the cast. Now my TV Guide says that tomorrow’s episode is the Homecoming game so I’m not sure if they are showing the episodes out of order, or if they are just waiting to start with the Pilot next week, which isn’t part of Memorial Day weekend. Speaking of which I hope everyone thanks a veteran or two sometime this weekend and I’ll be back Tuesday and sometime next week I will be unveiling the Third Annual Scooter Television Awards as well as the Top Ten Best Shows of 2006-2007.
I have an admission to make. Since the inception of this blog I have made fun of MySpace and whenever anyone asked me if I had one I would retort, “guys my age on MySpace all end up on Dateline NBC.” But secretly a couple months ago I went ahead and got my own Myspace basically for the sole reason so I could tell people that Snoop Doggy Dogg was a friend. I went threw a list of celebrities and musicians and even a couple imaginary people and some of them actually accepted my friends request. I even quietly put a link to my MySpace (or can I drop the first my?) on the sidebar here and there were some people who read this blog who clicked through and requested my friendship.
Aside from the rare person who found MySpace from here, I occasionally get request from your token spammers. But yesterday I opened up my inbox to see yet another rare friend request but this time it was from one Mandy Moore. Yes that Mandy Moore. I’m not sure how she came across me, but I would like to thank her for thinking enough of me to ask to be my friend. And I wonder if she remembers me because we actually met once. Back in the late nineties I was working at the local amphitheater and I was hanging backstage at the *NSYNC concert when this random hot chick came over and I started to chat her up. Later I look on the stage only to see the girl who I was talking to on the stage as the boy banders opening act. Then a couple weeks later I see this very person on MTV with her own video and that person turned out to be Mandy Moore. I knew I should have gotten her number. Oh well.
But now that we have reconnected via the internets, maybe we can do so in person again. So Mandy, feel free to shout me a holla the next time you come around northeast Ohio and I can show you around the town, maybe check out the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and grab something to eat afterward. Also if there are anymore hot celebrities out there, feel free to send me a friends request (guess none hot celebrities can send me one too, but I reserve to save the top spaces for celebrities because I’m shallow like that).
If you missed last night’s season finale of Lost, be sure to head over to ABC.com to stream the episode or download Through a Looking Glass at iTunes.
The people behind Lost got a lot of grief after the season one finale because it was slow moving and at the end, we didn’t get to see what was down the hatch and they actually seemed to take note of that. Yet oddly, the season finale have the same feel as the first one as Jack takes a Rousseau led trek through the island but instead of The Black Rock we get the radio tower. Charlie goes on a suicide mission this time with Desmond instead of Sayid in tow (plus he actually succeeded this time). To their credit, the things they did different were great as in Hurley playing bumper cars with one of The Others.
Since most everything in the first one hundred and fifteen minutes were ho hum (possibly thanks to what seemed like a commercial break every five minutes) let me flash forward to the last five (yes, the cheap pun was intended). I have been against Jack flashbacks since around the second season because there are many Other (again, cheap pun intended) flashbacks I would rather see and once again the ones in this episode was boring to the point of tears. At the end when someone pulled up, I said to the person next to me, “That has to be Penny, no one else it could be.”
Holy frak I was wrong. My first thought when Kate came into the light was, “they must have been brainwashed, and that is why they didn’t recognize each other on the flight.” Well actually my first thought was actually “just like many of the chicks from Survivor, she looked a lot better when she hasn’t showered in weeks,” but anyways. And with the reveal that this was a flashforward, we got three major questions that won’t be answered in a long time:
Whose obituary led Jack to almost commit suicide and be the only one to show up at the viewing hours? (My lead candidates are Sawyer, Locke, Ben, and Michael but really you could make a case for almost anyone we have met)
Who did Kate have to get back to? (Sawyer would be the easy choice but that would be too easy, and almost as big a question is why isn’t Kate locked up? I doubt the statute of limitations is up and murder and fleeing the country would keep her in jail long after her looks have gone)
Is Jack’s dad still alive or be alive in the future? (Jack trying to get drugs with his dad’s prescription could be easily discounted, but when he told the chief of surgery to go get his dad and if he was drunker than him, he could fire him isn’t as easily explained. I long believed that Jack’s dad was behind this all and this may once again help my theory)
Elsewhere in the previous one hundred and fifteen minutes, Charlie dies. Yawn. A poor ending to a lame storyline. What makes it worse was there was no reason for Charlie to lock himself in the room. And why would he, in his final moments be so worried that Penny didn’t know the name of the parachuter? Plenty of bosses don’t know the name of their underlings. But it did pretty much cemented that either she wasn’t who she said she was, not that we would find out because Locke killed her (although the last person he “killed” didn’t stick), or she was mislead by whoever was really in charge of her search team (Penny’s dad? Dharma?) Speaking of the person whose death didn’t stick, Eyepatch dude is one creepy dude. He come back from getting thrown into the forcefield only to say the voltage must night have been high enough, then he takes a spear to the chest only to swim around with a grenade. And I’m not even sure if that will be the last of him we see.
Even though most everyone else was morning the demise of Charlie, I was most sad to see Zeke take the bullet, I was always hoping for a Zeke flashback, not that we won’t see one in the future just because he died. Interesting though that Sawyer told Zeke the bullet was for taking the boy, not for shooting him back at the end of season one. I wonder with the Others getting depleted, if Ben is once again switching sides to the winning team and that is the real reason he trekked to the radio tower.
Of course no question asked last night will be answered for at the very least eight months because of the new deal the show made with ABC which is the dumbest idea that ends all dumb ideas as I bet the show will hit yet another all-time low much like it did when it came back from hiatus this year. If there were ever a show that shouldn’t take long breaks it is Lost. But again, what do I know? If I were to run a network, Veronica Mars, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Let’s Rob Ray Ramono would have been on the fall schedule.
Have to make this quick and in list form because I spent most of the day performing hard manual labor and have to devote three hours tonight to the Lost finale. If you missed the finale two episodes of Veronica Mars, Weevils Wobble But They Don’t Go Down and/or The Bitch Is Back, head over to cwtv.com to scream them or you can download them via iTunes or Amazon Unbox.
I’ll be back with more on the show later when I get a chance to re-watch them. I was taken a little out of them in the first viewing because it took me a while to get situated in a state of mind where I could enjoy it without being sad about it being the last episodes I would see and the last couple minutes getting taken out of the episode because I realized that I wasn’t going to have the show resolved to my satisfaction.
- Like the episode title said, the bitch was back and I couldn’t be happier (and more depressed as the same time but for different reasons). The second episode was very season one with Ronnie being disgraced in a sexual way along with the return of Jake Kane and Clarence Weidman. Plus the first part had a very A Trip to the Dentist feel to it while the second part was very Clash of the Tritons.
- Speaking of Jake Kane, despite seeing Kyle Secor’s name in the title sequence, I was still jaw on the floor, much like Vee, when she saw the picture of Lily and I didn’t put two and two together until he actually showed up on screen. But it is reasons like this that I try to avoid reading the guest star list and really wish television shows would move them to the end credits because it can really ruin surprises within the show.
- I wonder if it would have been a coincidence that Jake Kane and Dick Sr. both came back to Neptune around the same time, sadly we may never know.
- Glad we got a couple last Dick/Ronnie scenes; the best is when she confronted him about sharing the sex tape (also loved how he sheepishly showed Logan). It was great that Ronnie didn’t even bother to get made at Dick for forwarding the movie to everyone in his address book.
- The beach scene was possibly the best one all season and Dick’s apology to Mac may have been the oddest scenes (in a good way) since the space elevator.
- Keith should have had Vee take his place in the debate because she was able to win it without saying a word. I was waiting for one of them to bring up their involvement in the Duncan export plan behind closed doors only to realize that it would have just implicated them too.
- But these episodes were far from perfect, as soon as the stalker came on screen, it was pretty safe to assume that it was him who planted the camera.
- Was a little disappointed that in the last two episodes Parker just got one scene. Yeah she turned out to be a throwaway character who didn’t get much screen time in the first arc even though she was the catalyst but she, as well as Julie Gonzalo, deserved better. Along those lines, Deputy Leo shows up just once in the finale just to fetch evidence. Something must have ended up on the cutting room floor because certainly that was more of a Sachs type role.
- Was this the first ever sex tape not to feature sex? That seemed like too much of a cop out to appease those annoying people who are obsessed with Logan and Vee being together. And what dude, with his naked girlfriend in front of him, not be able to seal the deal?
Okay, enough nitpicking because the last two episodes rank at the top of this season along with Mars Bars. I really loved where the show looked like it was going with Ronnie taking on the castle, and certainly Logan didn’t make friends with them either. Again, they would be back at season one with Ronnie being an outcast with everyone thinking she was morally loose. And as I said earlier, I doubt Dick Sr. and Jake coming back at the same time may not have been a coincidence and that could have been another clue to what could have been. Unfortunately we won’t be seeing that on television and I highly doubt a movie with only an outside chance of a book. But I really hope the FBI trailer makes the light of day whether it is on the DVD or “leaked” to YouTube.
Oh, and one more thing, I am glad the show got in one Matchbox Twenty reference before closing up shop. The very first question I ever asked Rob Thomas when I met him was how much was he sick of Matchbox Twenty jokes. Surprisingly he said no one makes them (I guess it is good to be the boss). Personally if I had his number, whenever I found myself drunk and awake at 3 A.M. I would call him up to ask him if he was lonely. Oh well, for more on this conversation with Rob, check out No, Not That Rob Thomas.
Maroon 5 created some of the best pop songs this decade with their four single of the debut album Songs about Jane selling over four million copies to date. As great as those for songs were, take them away from the album and what you are left with is a mediocre at best album aside from the great album closer Sweetest Goodbye. But the band has taken its time to record the follow up which was released back in 2002, three years before they picked up the Grammy for Best New Artist.
In the interim, lead singer Adam Levine took over John Mayer role as go to white boy for rappers, appearing on tracks by Kanye West and the Ying Yang Twins, as well as taking part in the Hollywood party scene, being link to more than a few “it” girls of the moment. Despite the long lay off between albums, the band’s sophomore effort, It Won’t Be Soon before Long could as well have been called Songs about Jane (or Jessica, Lindsay, etc.) II as the album again is very relationship heavy, leaning again towards the negative sides of them. There are a few quasi-political messages throughout the album, most notable in the first single, Makes Me Wonders, with lines like, “Give me something to believe in ‘cause I don’t believe in you anymore,” but too many people are reading into the political themes consider the lines, “Struggled to memorize the way it felt between your (suggestive lyric deleted),” also appear in the song.
The band also lets its influences shine threw more this time around as there are a few Studio 54 era dance tracks that sound like Michael Jackson through the Justin Timberlake filter (If I Never See Your Face Again, Makes Me Wonder) populate the album. Won’t Go Home without You could have been what She Will Be Loved may have sounded like had the band had been listening to Every Breath You Take on a loop while recording. Kiwi could be their tribute to early Prince complete with sexual innuendo this time with fruit instead of a car. And I dare you not to think of 3 Doors Down’s Kryptonite when listening to the opening chords of Goodnight, Goodnight.
Still nothing here comes close to the upper-echelon of the first record. Harder to Breathe remains the only good fast song the band has done. The band is still at its best when they slow things down like on Nothing Lasts Forever which is built around Levine’s vocals from Heard ‘em Say but the words fit much better here than backing a rap track as well as one of the nicest break up songs ever (take that Clarkson) with Better that We Break. Of course that was most likely just lip services as Levine probably just moved on to the next party girl.
All reality show are dependant on good casting but if there is one that hits or misses depending on its new castmenbers it is The Real World. Since they have upped the token frat boy quotient to two per season, the show has been unwatchable (granted the most recent season in Denver was its best in a long time thanks to the clinically insane, and I mean that in a good way, Brooke). But Survivor is a close second. The problem though is that most contestants know they can’t act like a nut job because they would leave the island just as quick as they got there. Somehow the producers of the show seemed to find the few people who have never seen the show and didn’t realize that acting a fool wouldn’t endear them to their tribemates.
Number one on the clinically insane list was the Sylvester Stallone without the steroids looking James “Rocky” Reid, your obligatory bartender from Los Angeles this season. How he stayed while a bunch of soft spoken (i.e.: boring) tribe members got voted off before him was a miracle even publicly berating Anthony Robinson multiple times and somehow made it as far to make it on the jury where, even though not allowed to speak, he still got enough screen time thanks to his non verbal.
Even more shocking than Rocky making it to the jury was cheerleading coach Andria “Dreamz” Herd actually sitting across from Rocky as one of the finalist. Here is a guy who would have been on the chopping block had his team would have lost early on, and then was the odd man out in his alliance where he was on the chopping block from week to week again. After turning on that alliance at the merge he still made it to the final three possible just because he made a deal with Yau-Man Chan to exchange the truck Yau-Man one for immunity if Dreamz would win at the final four.
And poor Yau-Man, played the best game this season, but Dreamz pulled a WWF type swerve when he reneged on their agreement. This was befuddling because it is one thing to go back on your word if you have an actual chance of winning, but Dreamz should had know by doing so there was no way he was going to win so he basically traded his word to finish third instead fourth. For me that is just not worth it. Not only did Dreamz not win, he didn’t even get a single vote as all went to Earl Cole (I believe I called that, see: First Impressions Survivor Fiji). For those keeping track at home, in the two times they have had a final three, three of the six finalists have received no votes. Hopefully they go back to the final two next season.
Speaking of which, for the first time in a while, Survivor is going to be land locked next season as the show will be the first American show to ever film a whole season inside China. Odd choices as it would have made more sense to hold off a China season until 2008 to capitalize on the Olympics, but who am I to comment on how networks should make their schedule as I would have kept Veronica Mars, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip and Knights of Prosperity around.
Quote of the Week: I can still do long division but I can’t quite remember all the continents. (Ronnie when Mac mentioned that love kills more brain cells then crystal meth - Veronica Mars)
Song of the Week: I Feel it All - Feist (as performed on a traveling bus, Jimmy Kimmel Live)
Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School: Okay, it is pretty much assumed that nineties percent of realty television is rigged and/or staged, but the judging on this show is just absurd, you have some girls going home because they need to much help, then Goldie Courtney goes home because the other girl need more help. With that said, I’ll still be tuning in next week. Download this episode on iTunes.
Survivor: I would just like everyone to check out my First Impressions: Survivor Fiji to see who I predicted back then who would win (let me give you a hint, it was Earl). Check out the latest episode on Innertube.
How I Met Your Mother: After seeing the last two episodes I understand why CBS was considering canceling the show. Way to save the worst two episodes for the end of the season. Were we actually supposed to believe that Robin and Ted were getting married, with child, or moving to Brazil? It didn’t take too long to realize that the big news was they were breaking up. Check out the latest episode on Innertube.
Heroes: Usually I can put two and two together especially on a not so cleavarly written show like this, but I never realized that the locating that Mr. Bennett was going to “shut down” was going to be the little girl. If the future episode is any indication, sign says that something happens to her otherwise Nathan/Sylar would have used her power to locate all the Heroes. Almost as shocking was the demise of Linderman at the hands, literally, of DL, who may or may not have been healed by Linderman as he killed him. If I’m not mistaken, he was supposable killed in the nuclear blast with Micah, although why wouldn’t Nikki be with them? Maybe we will find out next week but if I were a betting man, I would put my money on no. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Lost: Wow, an actual good episode, and I’m talking late first season good. This is surprising considering I stopped caring about the Desmond/Charlie storyline right around the time it started. The only problem I had with the episode was with Charlie’s long goodbye to Claire when I just sat there saying, “Just give her the ring to give to Turnip Head and get going.” Then we have the big shocker at the end with there is a tribe of Amazon women who are currently habituating The Looking Glass station. Are they Others? Dharma? Part of Rousseau’s team? Someone completely different? Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Smallville: The big rumor was that someone was going to die in the finale but two of the characters looked like they won’t be back next season with Lana’s car exploding and Chloe’s uber-lame superpower being if she cried on someone, they would switch mortal wounds. My guess is if one actually survived it was Lana who actually got in the van that passed by preventing Lionel (who may or may not be in on it) to reach her, and then remotely blew up the car to fake her own death.
Next Week’s Pick: Veronica Mars, 8:00 Tuesday, The CW: The last Veronica Mars ever as well as the last time anyone will have a reason to watch the CW, the show goes off in fashion with two hours, starting at 8:00 so all you losers who will be watching the national karaoke championship, be sure to set your VCR’s (or for you pretentious types your Tivo’s). From the promo (see below), it looks like Ronnie will getting back to her bitter and vengeful self not fully seen since season one.
So let me get this straight, next season instead of Veronica Mars, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, or Let’s Rob Ray Ramono, we get Farmer Wants a Wife, another The Bionic Woman, and Cavemen. Seriously? I guess I should thank the networks for sucking because it looks like I will be watching a lot less television next year. Here are the few shows I will be watching next year:
Monday 8:00 - How I Met Your Mother (CBS) 8:30 - Everybody Hates Chris on tape (CW) 9:00 - Heroes (NBC)
Tuesday Um…
Wednesday Moving on…
Thursday 8:00 - Survivor (CBS) 9:00 - Smallville on tape (CW) 10:00 - My Name Is Earl on tape (NBC)
Friday 10:00 - Friday Night Lights (NBC)
Saturday Nope…
Sunday Maybe VH1 will have some good Celebreality
Wow, five and a half of network television next year. Again network television, thanks for sucking. That may go down to two and a half if that actually killed Lana and Chloe off Smallville (more on that later) and I finally give up on Heroes.
Now this is usually where I give my preseason top five but I can’t even find one new show that I even have the littlest interest in aside from Big Bang Theory where I have a very small interest if only because Kaley Cuoco is what I like to refer as uber-hot. But even her as the eye candy wasn’t enough for me to watch 7 Ideas that Shook Your Momma (or whatever that show was called) and really how funny can a show from the co-creator of Two and a Half Men be? And this preview is not doing much to wet my appetite, well, actually it is, but not in a way that it will make me want to tune in every week:
So I doubt I’d make it to the second episode. But then again I guess it is a good thing I didn’t make a preseason list because look at last year’s list:
1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (NBC) 2. Let’s Rob (ABC) 3. Heroes (NBC) 4. 20 Good Years (NBC) 5. The Nine (ABC)
Yeah, all but one got canceled while the one remaining show, although it had flashes of how good it could have been, was brought down by poor writing and even worse acting. Well here’s to a hopefully brighter 2008-2009 season.
When there is no arcing mystery, be it season long or part of a season, there just seems to be less to talk about without dissecting every scene, trying to figure out what are clues and what are red herrings and then break down who you think the perp is this week. With that said, the show has filled the time with some hot button topics, two weeks ago they talked terrorism, and this week it is genocide in Africa, insert Paul Rudd in-between and you have some solid episode.
Unfortunately taking the place of the overarching mysteries we get boring character driven storylines like with Mac and Max, they were much more interesting during the courting phase, as well as the Logan/Parker part. It was a little humorous the scene with Parker’s parents where they asked him his plans which called back the dinner he had with Keith earlier this season and was a nice tie in to Keith telling Ronnie that it was nice she had a boyfriend who cared more about things that how high the tide was.
Which is a nice transition to the great relationship, Ronnie and her dad arguing over who would get and did get on there PI test continues to show there are the best father-daughter combination on television. Then there is the shocking family time with Big Dick coming back to Neptune to turn himself in. Holy frak! When Little Dick walked onto the screen I got a big grin expecting another classic Dickism but I never expected a Dick Sr. would return. And who knew Ryan Hansen could act.
The return may have not been as shocking it is always good to see Cliff again who had one of the best lines of the night, “I hope you’ll understand why you won’t have my vote in the upcoming election.” And just like I mentioned last week, it looks Vinnie Van Lowe is conspiring with the Fitpatricks to be their patsy, and of course Neptune would be a much more entertaining place with him in charge of the police.
As for the story of the week, it was very well down and it is always a nice change of pace when someone out smarts Ronnie like Apollo did to use Vee to see if the father was after his money or not. And don’t forget to check out the website that was mention at the end of the episode, invisiblechildren.com, to see what you can do to help children in war torn Africa countries from becoming child soldiers or having to live in horrible conditions in displacement camps.
After over two years writing this blog I get a sense that my readers fall into one of two catergories, those that come to read about the latest music and those that want to see my thought on television (for those that fall in the latter catergory, be sure to check out my Win a Copy of Neptune Noir Contest). Well here is a post for the both of you: a lyrics quiz dedicated to songs features on television shows during the 2006-2007 season. As usual, place your guesses in the comment, both artist and song title, and if you are correct I will un-bold the lyric. You can also get a bonus point is you correctly guess which show(s) the song was featured on and double bonus points if you correctly guess the character how sang the song on the show if it was not performed by the original artist (you can steal the bonus point if and only if someone correctly guesses the lyrics). Now since I don’t watch every show on television and there are plenty of unoriginal shows out there that copy other show’s musical taste, I will only accept quality television shows, and I am the one who decides whether a show is quality. But as a hint, if dudes sang a karaoke version of the song or the song was featured in a montage at the end of a teen or medical drama because the writers were to lazy to write a couple more pages of dialogue, there is a good chance I won’t accept it. Now onto the lyrics (as a not so helpful hint, the songs are arranged by with the best song placements first, that is not to be confused with the best songs though):
Hints: (Some of these songs were Song of the Week on my weekly 57 Channels and Only This Is On posts) 3. This song was sung by one of the castmembers in a different launguage. 7. Will accept more bonus. 8. Who knew the dude from Clueless could sing?
1. And I want you, and I feel you crawling underneath my skin, like a hunger. (What's Left of Me - Nick Lashey; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - Veronica Mars; guessed by Jules) 2. All my friends were vampires. I didn’t know they were vampires. (Devil Town - Daniel Johnston; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - Friday Night Lights; guessed by Jules) 3. My son turned ten just the other day. He said, “Thanks for the ball, dad, come on let’s play.” (Cats in the Cradle - Harry Chapin; guessed by Monique; Bonus - Knights of Prosperity; guesed by Slaygal1981) 4. Though this feeling I can't change. Please don't take it badly, the Lord knows I'm to blame. (Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynrd; Bonus - My Name Is Earl; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 5. And when the money, comes in for the work I do I’ll pass almost every penny on to you. (I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) - The Proclaimers; Bonus - How I Met Your Mother; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 6. Gonna close my eyes, girl, and watch you go. Running through this life darling like a field of snow. (The One I Love - David Gray; Bonus - Rescue Me; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 7. I can’t care ‘bout anything but you. (Lovefool - The Cardigans; Bonus - The Office; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 8. I’m the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral. Can’t understand what I mean? Well, you soon will. (One Week - Barenaked Ladies; Bonus - Veronica Mars; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 9. Can't we give ourselves one more chance? Why can't we give love, ‘cos love's such an old fashioned word? (Under Pressure - Queen and David Bowie; Bonus - Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 10. Cracks a code on the Rosetta Stone. Said the word for alone is alone. (My Before and After - Cotton Mather; Bonus Veronica Mars as sung by Desmond Fellows; Both guessed by Slaygal1981) 11. All the lights that lead us there are blinding. (Wonderwall - Oasis; guessed by Jo; Bonus: Lost as sung by Charlie; guessed by Slaygal1981) 12. I’ve got a cow that went dry and a hen that won’t lay. A big stack of bills that get bigger each day. (Busted - Johnny Cash; Bonus - Veronica Mars; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 13. Just the good ol’ boys, never meaning no harm. (Theme from Dukes of Hazzard Theme - Waylon Jennings; Bonus - My Name Is Earl; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 14. Check baby check baby 1, 2, 3, 4. (Rump Shaker - Wreckx-N-Effect; guessed by Doug; Bonus - Lost and Veronica Mars; guessed by Slaygal1981) 15. I once got busy in a Burger King bathroom. (The Humpty Dance - Digital Underground; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - My Name Is Earl; guessed by Slaygal1981) 16. Strike up the band and make the fireflies dance, silver moon’s sparkling. (Kiss Me - Sixpence None the Richer; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - Knights of Prosperity; guesed by Slaygal1981) 17. One pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue. (Your Body Is a Wonderland - John Mayer; Bonus - The Office; both guessed by Slaygal1981) 18. It’s time to bring this ship into the shore, and throw away the oars, forever. (Can't Fight This Feeling - REO Speedwagon; guessed by Monique; Bonus - Supernatural; guessed by Jules) 19. They’re watching you watching you watching you watching you. (Private Eyes - Hall and Oates; guessed by Monique; Bonus - Knights of Prosperity; guessed by Slaygal1981) 20. Smack it up, flip it, rub it down. (Do Me! - Bell Bive DeVoe; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - My Name Is Earl; guessed by Slaygal1981) 21. The stars are blazing like rebel diamonds cut out of the sun. (Read My Mind - The Killers; guessed by Slaygal1981; Bonus - Friday Night Lights; guessed by Slaygal1981) 22. And by protecting my heart truly I got lost in the sounds. (Fidelity - Regina Spektor; guessed by Monique; Bonus - Veronica Mars; guessed by Slaygal1981) 23. See the west wind move like a lover so upon the fields of barley. (Fields of Gold - Sting; Bonus guessed by Slaygal1981) 24. Hands, touching hands. Reaching out, touching me, touching you. (Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond; guessed by Jo; Bonus - Veronica Mars; guessed by Doug) 25. It’s not a silly little moment, it’s not the calm before the storm. (Slow Dancing in a Buring Room - John Mayer; Bonus - CSI; both guessed by Slaygal1981)
Bonus: A list of the best song placements on television would be incomplete without this song but it is hard to use the song in a lyrics quiz because the only words to the song are the ones in the title. So as a bonus (double points for each), name the song, the artist, and the show that I am speaking of. (Right Here, Right Now - Fatboy Slim; Bonus - Veronica Mars; both guessed by Slaygal1981)
Honorable Mention to Bad Day - Daniel Powder as sung by Veronica Mars which happened after I made this list.
In my adult life, I can count on one hand the amount of books I have read. In fact I could have lost a couple in shop class and still be able to count them. (Before you write me off as having an aversion to reading, I do subscribe to two magazines, Newsweek and Rolling Stone.) And those few I read took me literally years to finish. But when the good people over at BenBella Books sent me a copy of Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigation into Veronica Mars, I went threw all 212 pages within a week.
The book is a collection of eighteen essays, most seemingly written between the second and third seasons, dissecting every aspect of the show and no matter why it is you watch the show, whether it be for the noir, the girl power, or the Veronica/Logan relationship, there is an essay for you. Well unless you are like me and watch the show for the latest Dickisms as only survivor still left in Neptune only gets fleeting mentions. And oddly a whole essay is devoted to the cars of Veronica Mars and what they tell you about the show and the characters that drive them, but no one devolves fully into Ronnie’s love life instead the writers side with Logan or Duncan with Troy and Deputy Leo left as footnotes.
The book starts of with an introduction from the show’s creator, Rob Thomas, which even at seven pages makes the book worth the price of admission as he recounts his professional life between moving out to Los Angeles up to the point of Veronica Mars getting picked up. Most interesting of this part was the pilot he wrote for Fox in-between Cupid and Veronica Mars, but of course since Fox is allergic to quality programming, they passed.
Thomas then also gives an introduction to each essay sometime discounting the essay in its entirety like the one about the cars (Full disclosure: I’m not a car guy) and seemed a little uneasy that someone devoted a whole essay about the campy side of the show (When something on Veronica Mars feels, campy, it means we have failed). The title of the review came from what Thomas said when the network asked what the show was about, but as anyone who has watched the show, it is much more as seen in the essays complied for the book. It would take too long to review each individual but here were the most interesting to me.
Chris McCubbin devoted his essay, The Duck and the Detective, on why Veronica Mars plays better in Red States than Blue. This piece stuck me as a resident of a Red State and life long Republican (well up until my brethren elected the most inept president ever, twice). My television schedule has never been influenced by my political beliefs, I even loved the unapologetically liberal Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, yet it still fascinated me especially after when a few liberals were up in arms because of the abortion pill episode. McCubbin liked to bring up the South Park republicans, but the big difference between South Park and Veronica Mars is that that Matt Stone has said, “I hate conservatives, but I really (expletive deleted) hate liberals” while Thomas readily admits, “he is “part of the Hollywood Loberal Media Elite.”
The other essay that caught my eye was the one from John Ramos, Couch Baron of Television Without Pity, I Cannot Tell a Lie. And if You Believe That… Ramos dissects the level of lies, from the white lies that help her solve a case to the big fat ones that have major consequences like when she played her father while helping Duncan get out of the country with his baby in tow. Add to that The New Normal by Kristen Kiddler where she looks into Vee’s vigilantism and it interesting to see people complain in season three that Ronnie has gotten so mean. The first season was all about making people pay, the person who killed Lily, the person who raped her and anyone who was an accomplice, even if inadvertent will be in her crosshairs. She still to this day harbors deep hatred for Madison Sinclair for handing her the drink that led to her rape.
Even though there is plenty of great essays for every type of Veronica Mars fan, there will be certainly a few that will not be as good as others depending on what brings you to the show. For me I could do without the essays on the cars as well as the one devoted to the “epic” love. But this is definitely a must read for anyone who has watched the show. You can order Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigation into Veronica Mars at the BenBella Books website. Also any television fan who is dreading the upcoming summer without your favorite shows should check out other books in their Smart Pop Anthology Series including books dedicated to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons, Gilmore Girls among others. And do not forget to check out my Win a Copy of Neptune Noir Contest.
Neptune Noir: Unauthorized Investigation into Veronica Mars gets a on my Terror Alert Scale.
Quote of the Week: Running from the law wasn’t as easy as they made it look on The Dukes of Hazard. (Joy - My Name Is Earl)
Song of the Week: My Before and After - Cotton Mather (as sung by Desmond Fellows, Veronica Mars)
Big News of the Week: Up Fronts: All the internet gossipers with their “sources” have been speculating for weeks what is in and what is out for the 2007-08 television season but all the rumor will be put to rest this week as all the networks unveils their schedules for next season. So everyone will know for sure if their favorite shows will be coming back and which nights. I’ll have my final wrap up Friday of what I’ll be watching as well as my preseason picks for best new shows.
Saturday Night Live: the 90’s: A thoroughly good retrospective of some of the best years in the history of the show. Some interesting stories including that the original cowbell skit failed in dress rehearsal earlier that season because it was Christopher Walken who made that skit, but I wonder who the original guest host was when the skit got cut. The early years were top heavy with the like of Sandler (who was conspicuously absent), Myers, Carvey, and Rock while the last half was carried by Norm MacDonald. Surprisingly they spent a decent amount of time on his firing. It is a shame the Burt Reynolds cross over didn’t happen because of it. Now it would be too easy to say the Celebrity Jeopardy was my favorite Norm scetch so here is my favorite on:
Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School: Mo’Nique is a moron. Seriously, she had a professional Speech and Debate dude their and she didn’t even respect his decision on who won. Not to mention it was obvious to me that the right team one. Download the latest episode on iTunes.
How I Met Your Mother: From my first impression, I called the show a televised version of a chick flick that is saved by the hilarity that is Barney, but not even Barney could save this week’s episode. Although the random dude, should I have known who that was, chasing Scooter (no relation) almost did. Check out the latest episode on Innertube.
Heroes: The whole snow-globe scene was cool, the rest of the episode, not so much. So we have Peter who knows that he is going to blow up th city, who instead of high tailing it out of the city to avoid that happening, instead goes in search of radioactive man, who is the very person that would cause him to blow up the season. And the show once again teases my greatest hope for the show, that Claire puts a bullet in the back of his head, killing him for good. Please let this be real this time. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com.
Veronica Mars: Another reason to subscribe to the Veronica Mars Podcast; you learn little tidbits like Desmond Fellows dead band mate in the My Pretty Pony video was played by Rob Thomas. Also if you are a fan of the show, be sure to check out my Win a Copy of Neptune Noir Contest. Check out the latest episode over at CWTV.com or download over at iTunes.
Lost: I totally called Juliet pulling a swerve on the Other with Jack in on it. Now with that said let move to the bulk of the episode; what the frack was that? Not-Henry and Locke talking to a fracking invisible man? Are you fracking kidding me? The reason why eyepatch dude didn’t die was because the wattage apparently wasn’t high enough? That’s fracking lame. Future obscenities aside, I guess we learned a few thing this episode like Not-Henry was, in fact, not born on the island. Apparently The Hostiles don’t age, or at the very least the Hispanic one doesn’t. The Workman in the van was Not-Henry’s dad. But there were plenty of new questions like how did Not-Henry, an outsider to the group, become the leader of The Others? Why didn’t the Hostiles purge the people in the Pearl Station? Is the little girl dead? Is Locke really dead? The show must have one frack of a finale if it expects me, along with other viewers to wait eight months before the show starts up again. Check out the latest episodes over at ABC.com.
Survivor: Yau-Man may have made the best move in the history of Survivor. With six contestant left, he set into motion a plan that very well will put him into the top three. He used the immunity idol to get himself into the top five and if he or Earl gets immunity he’ll get into the top four where if he or Dreamz gets immunity he is automatically in the final (assuming there is a three person finale again). But it will all depend on if the jury rewards him for the plan or give the vote to someone else to spite him. Check out the latest episode on Innertube.
My Name Is Earl: Much better finale than last year with Earl hitting on Joy’s lawyer and the reveal that she was actually on his list and the shocking twist the Earl threw himself on the bomb went to jail for Joy. As great as the show is with Earl crossing things off his list, an Earl in jail so could be just as funny as long as Ralph signs onto the show full time. But I suspect Earl will be out, and most likely back in the motel, by the second episode next season. Check out the latest episode over at NBC.com or download on iTunes.
Next Week’s Pick: Smallville, Thursday, 8:00, The CW: There is something big going down of the season finale of the show. Unfortunately someone’s lack of spoiler warning has, well, spoiled me, but I’ll be turning in just the same. Not to mention, no one does humongous cliffhanger like Smallville.
Download these shows on Amazon UnBox and watch them on your computer or transfer them to your Tivo:
CENTURY CITY, Calif. – You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll sing! Fox Home Entertainment presents a collection showcasing the work of one of the silver screen’s most accomplished actors. With his outstanding performances and ability to charm audiences by playing the lovable everyman, two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks (Philadelphia, 1993; Forrest Gump, 1994) has become one of cinema’s most recognizable and critically acclaimed actors. Now, Fox Home Entertainment brings all-new, two-disc editions of two of his brilliant accomplishments to DVD on May 8, 2007 – Big Extended Edition and That Thing You Do: Tom Hanks’ Extended Cut. Each film is available individually for the suggested retail price of $19.98 U.S. / $25.98 Canada.
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