Something of my own, to look forward to

I don't add a "must-see TV show" to my list very often, nor very easily. Truth be told, outside of sports, most of what I watch on a regular and must-see basis comes to be that way because Rachel really enjoys it, and I start to like certain aspects of the show, and it becomes a show "we" watch faithfully as must-see TV.

Gilmore Girls was like this.

Survivor was like this.

The Office is like this.

Well ... finally, there's something that I have as my own must-see TV show.



And ... I think I finally like it because I enjoy the show itself, and not just because it's Star Wars.

See ... the show premiered as a movie pilot of three episodes strung together. And, I enjoyed the movie, but I'm pretty sure I enjoyed it only because it was Star Wars. That is, if you remove all the Star Wars-stuff and replaced it with non-SW stuff and told the exact story with similar dialogue, plot, and jokes ... I don't think I would have enjoyed it at all.

But ... with the episodes, I think, *think*, it's growing past that. And I'm enjoying them for what they are, not just for being part of the larger Star Wars Universe.

So ... if you've ever enjoyed Star Wars ... if you loved the classic trilogy, but struggled through the Prequels, if you hate the Expanded Universe, if you loved the prequels ... whatever your classification is, I think you need to give this TV show a chance. It captures the feel of the original Star Wars, with the action of the new Star Wars, and it makes me feel like a kid again, where I can get wrapped up in the action and the (often predictable) story, and just have a good time enjoying myself for half an hour each week, with not worries about what's happening in real life.


And, perhaps best of all, in the three weeks of the show, I don't think I've seen a single political ad. Hope I didn't jinx it.

My Eyes Must Deceive Me

So, I'm watching the end of the Cowboys-Cardinals game. And a commercial comes on television. For Natural Light.

Yeah. That's right. Natty Light. The Beer.

And ... it's not a parody. It's a real commercial. With a real attempt to create brand loyalty for Natty Light, with buzz words and hype and slogan and jingo and the such.

Are they seriously trying to convince me that anyone out there exists, let alone enough people to warrant the price of an advertisement, who can buy Natty light out of brand loyalty and advertising? Or, really, for any reason other than "it was the cheapest beer at the corner store"?

The Power of Words

Yes, it's been a while since I've blogged.

So what.

I'm sure my readership of 5 has survived.

Anyways, I have a nice anecdote of how I saved $38.

So, Friday night, our Dish Network service went a little crazy. And by a little crazy, I mean that USA network refused to tune in, even though every other channel did. Which made me more than a little upset, because Friday night was the season debut of Psych.

But, I dealt with that, and watched something we had on DVR.

So, Saturday morning rolls around, and our Dish Network service is even more on the fritz. No channel is tuning in. So, I go online to Dish Network's live chat help desk. And through an hour of working on it, I finally get it back to where it was Friday night: USA not working. At this point, the program/person I was chatting with informed me that the only solution was to have a technician come out at a charge of $29. I told the program/person that I wouldn't pay that, and asked to speak to someone else, so I was instructed to call and talk to someone on the phone.

So, I called. And I got someone who at first wanted to walk me through all the steps I had spent an hour walking through with the online support. Once he realized I wasn't happy with that, he simply had me walk through to get him the readouts of the signals, and he concluded that the only solution was to have a technician come out for a cost of $29. So, I reminded him that if I simply moved my address, they would bring me a new dish for free. He was unimpressed with this information and told me there was no way to remove the fee, as I was already getting a $70 discount on the service.

I then made no mistake in the level of my voice as I asked Rachel "Do we still have the coupons or DirecTV?" This changed his tune a little bit, but he was adamant that there was nothing he could do about the fee. I told him I was frustrated that my four years of loyal service meant nothing, and that I was shocked that Dish Network would lose a customer for a measly $29.

And then he made a big mistake.

He said "Sir, I understand how you feel"

I snapped back with a

"No, you don't understand how I feel. You're not in my situation, and you cannot possibly understand how I feel. I'm in sales, sir, and I understand the trick you're trying to pull, and I can guarantee you, it won't work on me".

in quite the emphatic tone. And that's something I'm careful to never say to anyone. Because it's true: I'm not in their situation, and I don't know how they feel. I may have heard similar things, or been in a similar situation myself, but I don't know how they feel. But that's enough of my sidetrack.

Apparently, this was enough to finally change his tune, as he came back with "well, I can give you a credit on your next bill of $29 to cover this, so on your next bill, you will see a charge of $29 and a credit of $29. Is that acceptable?"

Of course, this is what I'd wanted since I made the phone call, so I said it was. Then, he informs me that he cannot schedule a technician to visit me until Friday. Which meant I'd have to go a week without the full service I'm paying for. So, I asked him if he really thought I should have to pay full price for a partial service for an entire week. He started to say one thing, stopped himself, and with great reluctance said "I'm authorized to give you a credit of $8 on your bill this month because of the inconvenience, is that acceptable?"

Well, it was, and that's how I went from them wanting me to pay them $29 to them giving me back $8.

Not bad, I'd say.

On Second Thought

Maybe golf will be boring to watch on television for the rest of the year

...

...

...

Tiger Woods to have season-ending knee surgery

Makes me appreciate the effort at the US Open all that much more ...

Also gets Tiger a permanent place on the "All Testicles" team, along side greats like Michael Jordan and Byron Leftwich.

An Early Victor

NBC has won.

And by won, I mean the summer viewing competition.

And by summer viewing competition, I mean in my house.

It's over. Nobody else needs to compete.

American Gladiators, as ridiculous and over the top as it is, is much-watch television in my house now, especially with the Cavaliers eliminated. I mean, where else do you get to see grown people falling off of hand bikes into giant ball pits? Who doesn't love that?

Last Comic Standing returned to television last night. It's already must-watch television. God's Pottery cracked me up. And I'm not sure I'll find a better line than "Vegans are like the Jehovah's Witnesses of salad". And that was just in the first night. Until "Dream Job" returns, LCS will remain my favorite reality show on television.

I don't watch a lot of television (outside of sports) to begin with. So, for a network to already have two must-watch shows for me, it really is a victory.

Two Things to Say ...

I've been busy, but here are my two thoughts for the day:

1) Free Southern Chicken Biscuit at McDonald's with any drink purchase + $1.00 for any size soda at McDonald's = win.

2) They really need to do a new version of Match Game with modern B- and C-list celebrities. I'd watch it.

I'm Stoked

The new American Gladiators is premiering on TV right now.

This is awesome.

It's either going to be an amazing show recapturing my childhood, or an amazingly bad trainwreck of a show.

Either way, this should be very entertaining

This is awesome

Truth in Advertising

So, I'm watching VH1's 100 top songs of the '90's. And they run a commercial for "Rock of Love 2". This prompts the following.

"You know, one of these years, I'd like to see VH1 just tell the truth about what they will be airing. Just call the shows "A Bunch of Skanks Sleep With an Old Celebrity, and He Picks a Winner".

And I think I'd watch that show, at least once, if only because of the name.

I Miss John Stewart

I miss John Stewart and Stephen Colbert

And I know I'm not alone

I hope they end the strike soon ...

But, in the meantime, maybe this can tide you over.

Loss of Man Card

So, on Thursday nights, some fellas from my church go to Wings 'n' Things here in town to watch the NFL Network Thursday night game. I've been the last two weeks, and both times people have had to have their man cards threatened.

The first week, Ryan and Trevor (or as I call them TrevoRyan) decided that during the first quarter of the game they'd discuss the Bachelor. Yes, the crappy reality television show where the dude picks a woman to date after sleeping with 14 other chicks. Or however it actually works. Now, granted, the topic of the Bachelor came up because we were discussing the awesome state of NFL quarterbacks, and Jesse Palmer was once an NFL quarterback and the Bachelor. But, still, talking about the Bachelor while out with two other guys watching football is grounds to have your man card temporarily suspended.

But in paled in comparison the horrible offense committed last night.

There are four of us last night for the game, and unlike the previous week the entire place wasn't completely dedicated to the game. There was a women's college hoops game on a few of the flat panels (and let me tell you that is not why God gave us flat panel televisions), there was Versus on a few (so we got to watch deer and buffalo hunting on tv ... odd), the game was on most of the TVs, and the jukebox was on.

And so I'm sitting there watching the Texans-Broncos game, making countless jokes about the greatness of a quarterback named "Sage", eating fries and buffalo wings, when the unthinkable happens.

Over the speakers, from the jukebox, comes Kelly Clarkson and "Because of You". During a football game, when I'm trying to eat my man food. And I couldn't do it. I had to put my wing down until the song was over, because it just didn't feel manly enough to eat a buffalo wing while that song was blaring.

And I don't know who put that song on during a football game, but whomever it was, when we find out who you are, your man card will be suspended for a long, long time.

Random Items

Fall Television

Survivor

Alright, so Rachel got me hooked on Survivor a little while back. I think I watched the blasted thing once before we started dating, and now it's a regular part of our life. So, it is what it is, and it entertains me, so it's something I watch now. Watched the unimpressive season premiere last night. Wasn't great, wasn't bad. I'm always amused by the contestants who seemingly have never seen the show and are so surprised by certain "twists" that always show up.

I'm pretty certain that I've never caught a full season. Last season, Rachel and I missed the first episode, and the season before we missed the finale (way to go, miss the finale of a reality tv show). Here's guessing what show we'll miss this season.

Still too early to call a favorite, at least for me.

Dancing with the Stars

This one is *technically* my fault. I wanted to watch last season to see my boy Kenny Mayne and to a lesser degree Jerry Rice. So that opened the floodgates for it to become a staple. I don't care too much for it this year, but it's entertaining to see A. C. Slater on television again (oh, wait, his name is Mario Lopez? Whoops). My money's on him, although we have a conundrum ...

Gilmore Girls

Another show Rachel got me hooked on. This is the first season we'll have a chance to see first-run episodes as they show (just got the WB this summer), but it's on opposite DWTS. So, which do we watch? The Reality Show with a recap/result show the next day, or the sitcom with reruns in a few months?

I guess we'll figure it out, but my vote is for Gilmore Girls, if only because Luke is the closest any television show has come to putting me on tv.

Sigma Theta Epsilon

Working with some guys from my home chapter to try to help out with rebirthing the chapter at Ohio Univeristy. We met tonight for dinner (Rachel made us meatloaf and mac-n-cheese ... yum), and it was a very good meeting. We left with what seems to be a good direction and a good plan. Let's hope God blesses it. Your prayers for it probably wouldn't hurt either.

This is an exciting time of year for the fraternity. With schools starting up for the year, a lot of chapters will start to have new members. It's always neat to meet new guys at my home chapter, and I really hope we get some new guys interested in Nationals who will interact with us on the Bulletin Boards. I guess time will tell.

Of course, that also means my work load goes up there. Which is a good thing. I love working on things for STE. Working on the newsletter, printing shingles, planning meetings, deciding my future plans ... all stuff I love.

Random God Moment

So, I was driving home the other day, and had one of those wierd "God" moments. Where He brings to mind something random and then speaks to me through/about it. What he brought to mind is a television show Rachel sometimes watches on HGTV called "I want that". And it made me think, shouldn't I be reading the Bible and looking for things that make me say "I want that"? Shouldn't I be living a life so that others will see God in me and through me and say "I want that?" So, I'm going to be trying to make a list of "I Want That: Spiritual" for myself, and see what I come up with. But I'd also love to know what's on your "I Want That: Spiritual" list.





I think that's all for now ...