More T.V. Wrapup

So Lee won American Idol last night. I'm not terribly surprised. He's a lot more marketable than Crystal. I think Crystal can have a great career, it's just going to take a record company that care enough about her to promote her properly. With Lee, they can let an intern run his promo campaign on auto-pilot and make money hand over fist. He's an O.K. singer which means that they can fix any problems he might have in the studio and he'll never be able to sound live like his album will. With Crystal getting second though, her contract will be a lot more flexible and hopefully she'll get to do more of what she wants to.

Most of the other shows we watch have finished their seasons also. Chuck wrapped up this past Monday. I can't understand why everyone is not watching this show. Chuck is probably going to be the show I most care about now that 24 and Lost are done.

We've been watching Parenthood since it started back in the winter and it's a pretty excellent show also. Of course, Grey's and Private Practice have wrapped up their seasons along with Biggest Loser.

I think we've got one or two shows left and then we'll be into the summer wasteland. We've got a pretty good list of movies queued up on Netflix, so I guess we'll be running though those.

We leave Sunday for our vacation. We'll be gone until the following Sunday. We're taking the laptop with up but I'm not sure I'll be blogging. If I find myself unable to sleep in one day I'll try and post and let you know how awesome it is. If I don't make it though, look for me the second week of June.

--Paul

Goodbye, Old Friends

In the space of two nights, two of my favorite T.V. shows came to an end. Lost and 24 have both had their ups and downs, but I have to say that I'm pretty satisfied with the way both of them ended.

Lost has always been about the mystery. For every answer the show ever gave, the brought up two more questions. For the most part, this was true of the finale also. Sure, they answered some of the questions that we've been asking since the beginning of the series but for the most part, there are still a lot left that will never be answered. You know what? That's fine with me. It was time for Lost to come to an end. It had been straining under its own weight for a while now and if it had lasted past this year, it probably would have completely collapsed. Like I said though, I'm pretty satisfied with the ending. My only real problem with it is that they emphasized an "all leads to one" world view of religion. In the end, all the characters were shown dead in a kind of purgatory that they were all able to reach on their own. This is just flat out wrong. If you try to ignore that part of the show though, then it's about something that is true. Relationships. Each of the characters were flawed at the beginning. Some were able to build relationships with one another and either find respect or love for each other. Forgiveness and redemption are ideas that I can agree with and for me, that's what I choose for Lost to have been about.

24 is much more simple but in a way, it carries the same themes as Lost. Flawed characters doing everything they can to protect their family, their friends and their country. They're not always right and they don't always go about things the best way, but they try and in the effort they usually found the right path. Jack didn't necessarily get a "happy" ending, but I think that they gave him one that was appropriate, especially in light of his actions over the course of the last couple of hours. They sent him to the darkest place he's ever been and in the end, with the help of his truest friend, he was able to step back from the brink and trust those around him to set things right.

They also wrote the perfect setup for the movie. Hopefully it won't be long before we see Jack on the big screen.

See you on Thursday.

--Paul

Titles Are the Hardest Part

I threw in the towel and yesterday Dad came over with the truck and we took the lawnmower up to the shop. Hopefully they can get the drive belt replaced and everything back in working order so that I can cut the grass the rest of the summer without having to fight with the thing every week.

We're down to the last two hours of two shows I've watched for a long time, 24 and Lost. I don't really know what to say about Lost. If I didn't know it was ending and I hadn't watched every episode up to this point, I probably wouldn't even bother. Basically, I'm just seeing it out to the end. 24, however, oh how I hate to see you go. They're going out big though. Jack has gone off the deep end this time. Too many people have hurt him too many times and I think he's finally just snapped. At the rate he's going, it'll be surprising if there's anyone left standing at the end of the finale.

That's about all I've got today. I'm planning on cutting the grass this afternoon and that frees up Saturday to help out with "Campers on Mission" who are coming to the church to work on the new building. They're going to be there starting today and work through Saturday working on getting the floor system in for the gym floor. I'm no carpenter but I can at least push a broom around or something like that.

Have a good weekend and I'll see you next Tuesday.

--Paul

Striking Out

The lawnmower and I are apparently going to be going at it all year. I tried to cut grass for the second time this year the weekend before last. I got about five minutes into it when the drive belt gave out. So I got a new drive belt last week and on Saturday, I was going to put it on and get the grass cut. I got to step two in the process of replacing the belt when I came across something that stopped me dead in my tracks. I had to take a pulley off to get the old belt off and when I went to removed it I found out that it was broken. So now I have to replace the pulley too and I still didn't get to cut my grass.

I think these problems are still steaming from me hitting that tree trunk the first time I cut the grass. I can't be positive, but it's the only explanation that really makes any sense. Dad came to the rescue and brought me his mower. It was late Saturday when he brought it over, so I still haven't had a chance to cut my grass. I'm hoping I can get it done today.

We saw the new "Robin Hood" movie over the weekend and it was pretty decent. DeAnne liked it more than I did. I think it's that it's not a "light-hearted" take on the story as to why I wasn't just crazy about it. Don't get me wrong, it was an awesome movie and I enjoyed watching it, but it was a much darker, gritter and probably more true to life in the 13th century Robin Hood than is usually presented. Good movie, just put every other Robin Hood movie you've seen out of your mind before you go.

--Paul

Back to Schedule

I had a pretty awesome birthday. There wasn't really anything special that happened, it was just a nice day. DeAnne got me a sweet card that choked me up like always. She also got me an awesome book of photos of the Beatles and she bought us a case for the Macbook. Other than than, I got some money that I'll probably be using on vacation in a couple of weeks. Like I said, nothing spectacular, but it was just a really nice day. Also, the idea of turning 29 hasn't really had an effect on me. I think I'm to the point where it's just another year. After all I've been through with my heart and all, I'm just grateful to still be counting years. I'm incredibly blessed and my birthday is really just a reminder of how much so.

Going backwards now, Monday I had my annual cardiologist appointment. Everything looks great and I was told to just "keep doing what I'm doing".

One thing I'm not doing is cutting grass. I started to on Saturday only to have the drive belt on my lawnmower give out on me about 2 minutes into cutting. With everything else that's been going on this week, I haven't had time to go get a belt and try to fix it. I'm going to have to do something soon though or I'm going to be cutting it down with a machete just to walk the dog. Hopefully I can get something done about it today or tomorrow.

No real plans for the weekend. I would imagine that yard work is on the list for Saturday. I would love to go see "Robin Hood" at some point. Maybe we'll get the chance.

Have a good weekend. See you on Tuesday.

--Paul

30-1

That's right, today is my birthday and I'm turning 29. In celebration of this momentous occasion, this is all the blog you're getting today. Sorry. I still love ya' but today is about me.

--Paul

Lull

I guess we're in a bit of a lull right now as far as things go.

Our next big adventure isn't until the end of May/first week of June. That's when we'll be heading to Myrtle Beach for a week with my Mom and a bunch of my family on her side. We're looking forward to it and I've probably already mentioned it on the blog in the past, but it should be fun. I haven't actually taken a full week off of work since DeAnne and I got married almost five years ago. We've taken long weekends and little vacations but this will be the first time since our honeymoon that I've taken a straight five days off of work.

T.V. shows are starting to wind down. There's only three weeks left for "24" and that makes me sad. It looks like they're going to pull out all the stops for the end of the series though. I haven't talked much about "American Idol" this year and that's mainly because the only thing worth saying about it is that Crystal is an amazing singer and this past week even she wasn't that good. It just seems like they're having a down year this year. It may just be me, but Crystal is the only one I've really been impressed with. I liked Casey early on, but he's fallen off the last couple of weeks. This week, Lee was in the top three with Casey and Crystal and that's pretty much how it should be next week also. After that, it's between Casey and Lee to see who goes to the finale with Crystal.

We're behind on "Lost". Way behind. But, it shouldn't be too bad to catch up. We just need to sit down one night and watch the episodes we haven't watched. I still like "FlashForward" even though DeAnne's given up on it and I'm still loving "V".

See. I found something to talk about after all. Have a good weekend and I'll talk to you on Thursday.

--Paul

The Usual

24 continues to rock as hard as it can leading up to its final episode. Last night saw the death of a character that I've found obnoxious all season and I have to say, I cheered when they bit the dust. Don't worry, they were a bad guy. I was really happy to see that character go bye-bye though.

Another solid weekend. DeAnne was a little under the weather on Sunday, but she seems to have bounced back pretty well. We were outside for a bit on Saturday for a birthday party and with the wind like it was, her sinuses just didn't stand a chance.

I have to say, I'm a bit disappointed with myself. I thought that I would be able to complete all the missions on the co-op section of Modern Warfare 2 at the hardest difficulty stage, but after the first 12 or so, they've gotten incredibly hard. I guess I just don't have the skills necessary. Edwin's tried his best to help me out, but we just haven't made any progress.

And that's about all I've got for today. See you on Thursday.

--Paul