Goldilocks and the Three Stooges

I have a lot of interests. A lot of varied interests. Geek stuff like comics and D&D; "normal" stuff like jogging, mystery novels, and the Foo Fighters; and things just plain outside any realm of understanding (Barry Manilow and "Ace of Cakes").

I also like a certain soap opera, General Hospital. As I was growing up, after coming home from school, me and my older brother and sister had to share the living room TV. And somehow my sister got to watch General Hospital (I think it was because my mom also liked the show). Eventually I watched it. Now I come back to it like an old friend that I haven't seen in years.

Some of the faces are gone (Lila and Steve Hardy) as those actors passed on in real life, some faces are much older (Luke, Laura, Alan, Scotty, Robert, and Noah) and some are all together new (Lulu, Dillion, and Spinelli). And right now it's these new faces that have caught my interest.

Right now Lulu, a freshman college student, finds herself with several would-be suitors. Here's how the competition looks:

• Dillion is a young, good looking guy that Lulu had a crush on after she's put her feelings behind her, it seems he now has deeper feelings for her. These two have been friends (with tension) for a long time and the actor's have great chemistry together. He's probably the front runner.
• Milo is a goof (and I think the actor playing him isn't that good either). Nothing else I want to say about him (hey, I don't need to be objective here... no illusion of "fair and balanced reporting")
• Spinelli is a goofy looking, cyber-nerd. A combination of Spicolli from Fast Times and Willow (with a Y chromosome) from Buffy. He's hilariously written and is deeply smitten with "the blonde one" as he calls her (he typically refers to EVERYONE by these self-made descriptors as opposed to real names). He would be the "underdog" character and I know a lot of people on-line are rooting for him to win Lulu's heart.

I don't know who I'm rooting for (either Dillion or Spinelli) as either character is a "nice guy". I'm really enjoying the comical situations that they put all these characters in and I've always been a sucker for a love story. I know real life is never this cut and dry and happy endings really are sometimes just stories that haven't finished, so it's always nice to see one of these illusions played out on TV.

No matter what happens, as long as "love wins" I'll be happy with the outcome.

Comics and Captain America

I'm a geek... there's no denying that. One look at the "computer room" (read: my room) versus the "craft room" (read: her room) and you can see all manor of toys, D&D paraphernalia, and comic book strewn about. And while this is an accurate picture of me, it is not the complete picture (and therefore maybe not totally accurate).

But it's the comic books I'm thinking about right now. There's all this buzz in the mass media about the recent death of the comic book character Captain America and what a shocking thing this was (like a real person died). Anyone who doesn't think he'll be back ain't never watched a soap opera, read a comic book before or watched a TV show (Bobby Ewing, anyone?). He's as fictitious as Wily E. Coyote and just as likely to return.

Maybe it's important in a metaphysical sense, as Captain America is supposed to symbolize all that is good in America, that he is a symbol of a forgotten age (he was frozen in the 40s battling Nazi's and awoke to find a world no longer as black and white as it was back then). But in this day and age do those ideals still apply to America? Notice how in the recent Superman movie they humorously avoid the ending to the old motto "Truth, justice, and the American way".

Is there a place for Captain America in today's world? Is he an archaic reminder of the past, or could he be a beacon that might help in some small way to lead us out of the darkness that the modern age has cast about us.

I miss you Cap... and I hope to be around when you return, 'cause I think we really need you, now more than ever.

"October Road" Not Taken

Just watched 45 minutes of the first (1 hr) episode of a new show called October Road. It's been on for two weeks and I was planning on watching the first two eps in one sitting. Now, thanks to a really bad show, I just got 1:15 of my life back (and I'd still like the other 45 min).

I wanted to like the show, and I have no problem with the idea of man returns home to confront those left behind, but I didn't feel for any of the characters and as it progressed, I just got more and more upset with how disjointed everything seemed.

1) The music was ALL wrong. The opening takes place in 1997 but everyone is lip syncing to an old Boston song ("Don't Look Back"), which was a hit in the 70s (I think). And one of the guys is playing air guitar with a WOODEN tennis racket... quick, get that out of his hands and put it in a museum, 'cause it's gotta be the last wooden racket out there!
The music issues continue through out what I saw of the first ep. There's Gin Blossoms and early Collective Soul in what is supposed to be modern day. Please was the music budget so small they had to get rights to old one-hit wonder songs. I know the songs were lyrically relevant but it just disoriented the setting of the show.
I also didn't like the Kurt Cobain poster in 1997... seemed a little out of time as he died in 94 and a fifteen year old girl (in 94) may have moved on to someone else by the time she was 18 (in 97).

2) The dialog. Mostly sucked, but the stuff from the little kid was downright laughable... even Dawson and Joey would have done a double-take on this kid.

3) Plot... predictable. If the characters were more interesting, I might not have minded seeing them in these situations.

There were other issues, but I don't care anymore... one less show to watch, just leaves more time for writing this blog :)

Fragments of Life

Titles, names, tag, summations, are important to me. A way of trying to sum up everything in as neat and tidy a package as possible.

Titles can also be a guidance to the future.

The danger is in letting titles be limiting, instead of enabling...

So, why "Fragments of Life"... it seemed the best way to state that this is basically a diary (of my Life) but that it's also not inclusive of every detail (Fragments)

I've tried blogs before, never with much success... hopefully this will be different.