Glee

I love this show. For those of you who don't know it is about a high school glee club trying to get some respect against all odds. Every character is like someone you know and while it makes you laugh it makes you cheer just as much. I have only seen two episodes and already I feel extremely attached. I could go character by character and explain why you should watch the show, but really just take my word for it and at least give it a try.
"

The Kite Runner

I have not seen the movie so this is solely based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini. I went somewhat backwards having first read A Thousand Splendid Suns and then this novel. While I enjoyed them both, The Kite Runner left me somewhat depressed when the other left me feeling uplifted. The story is very intense and I seriously hated the main character for most of the book. I was called in for jury duty a while back and I was reading A Thousand Splendid Suns while waiting to be called in and a fellow juror expressed to me that she believed if everyone in America read these books there would be no racism. While I admire her optimism I believe people have their biases and wont change over a book, however I do feel that these books would at least instill a certain amount of compassion towards the people who have immigrated here from such dire circumstances. These novels take you deep into the heart of the war in the middle east from both a female and male perspective. I do recommend both of these books, just perhaps not for a little light summer reading.

Battlefield 1943

Recently we have switched from COD4 to Battlefield 1943. I love this game. Due to the unexpected amount of purchasers the first week was a little rough. It was hard to get into a game, would freeze and the squad feature wasn't working. However, now almost all the bugs are fixed and playing is a really fun experience. There are the 3 original maps:




Plus the air plane only map Coral Sea which was unlocked after the online community reached 43,000,000 kills.


As you see above you can fly planes (and parachute from them) in this game, but you can also drive tanks, jeeps and boats.




The point of the game is for your team to capture as many flags as possible. This works best if you work in a squad and organize strike points. The controls aren't clunky, the graphics are good and the kills usually seem fair. This game is only $15.00 so I'm waiting to hear your excuse as to why you don't have it yet.

LA Ink

This is the only reality show I watch. I love watching people come in with a vague idea of what they want and watching the tattoo artist make it actually turn out awesome. These people are amazing artists. I also love how people can bring in pictures of people they love and both Kat and Corey can make their tattoo look exactly like the picture if not better. I don't have any tattoos myself but if I could think of something I would want on my skin forever I would feel honored to have these people draw it on there.

This season Hannah and Kim are gone :(

I will miss them they added a lot of spirit to the show. Kat has been really busy with her other career endeavours (book, cosmetic line and merchandise) so her little brother hired Aubry Fisher to be their new shop manager but she doesn't know how to do anything so she's just slowing them down.

Kat just hired a new artist named Amy in hopes that she would fit in. So far she hasn't really found her niche and since she's only been tattooing 4 years Kat isn't all that impressed with her stuff but I think she has potential. Her make up is scary as hell but other than that I really like her and hope she gets better. We're only 2 episodes into the new season so hurry up and get watching.
Thursdays @10pm on TLC

Sweeney Odd

I watched Sweeney Todd last night and finished feeling a mixture of hatred and delight. A barber with a beautiful wife is thrown into prison for a crime he didn't commit by a judge infatuated with his wife. After 15 years in prison he makes his way back to London to exact his revenge. I knew going in that Tim Burton enjoys making strange movies, playing with color pallets and walking the fine line of discomfort.



Even still there were points in this movie that shocked me into laughter. I really felt that I was watching a play instead of a movie (yes I know it is based off a Broadway musical). The story itself is very strange and most of the "plot twists" I could see coming from a mile away. I hated all but one character (a little boy named Toby)



and I did not understand or believe the "love" between Anthony and Johanna.



At times it felt to me that some scenes that should have been short and entertaining became long and somewhat boring because they had to fit a song into it. However, as a whole it was very entertaining. Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter are very good singers and work amazingly well together. The murders and disposal of bodies was so brutal it came off as comical which somewhat lightened the mood of an incredibly dark film. While the setting itself looked like something I dreamed up after eating some bad food I found myself mesmerized by the colors and textures.



Overall I would say it's definitely worth watching, but I wouldn't buy it.

Twilight

For about 6 months now I have had a number of people tell me to read Twilight. I wasn't all that interested, but I took Delaynee to the library to get some more princess books and there it was so I checked it out. I did not want to put that book down. Stephenie Meyer was able to capture my attention and keep it just as well as J.K. Rowling did with the Harry Potter series and I have been waiting forever to find a book that could do that. I actually didn't really want to like it. I wanted to be able to say that I thought it was stupid and call a bunch of people idiots, but much to my displeasure it was awesome. The main character reminds me of myself so it was easy for me to relate to her and Edward's internal battle was both comical and enthralling. I loved it. I joined a book club recently and was able to pick 5 books for free and I found the set of all 4 of the Twilight series books that only counted for 2 so I am impatiently awaiting their arrival.



Yesterday was Mother's Day and I treated myself by buying the movie. Jesse and I watched it while downing a bottle of vino after putting the kids to bed. I hate when people go on and on about how a book is better than a movie, but really in this case it was a lot better. The movie was OK, but the scenes that were really intense in the book came off as funny and awkward in the movie. The actors did fine jobs and I am not sure how I would have done it differently, but for me it didn't really capture the essence of the book. It was very evident that the demographic is high school girls, but I still liked it because I liked the book so much. If you watched the movie and it put you off of reading the book I really recommend reading it anyway.

Peggle

I LOVE Peggle. I can sit down to play this game and before I know it 3 hours has gone by. When you see someone playing this game it looks really lame. You have to play it to understand. You just move the shooter to where you want and shot a ball at a bunch of different colored pegs to clear a board. While it doesn't really sound all that fun it is extremely addicting. There are 10 different "masters" that you learn from. They each have a different ability that when you hit the green pegs you can use to help clear the levels.

You will first encounter Bjorn.

Bjorn's special power is guided shot. The next three shots you take will have lines showing the direction the ball will bounce.


Second you will learn the skill of multiball from Jimmy Lightning.

If you hit a green peg while playing under Jimmy Lightning your ball will split into two and they will hopefully go in two different directions getting you twice the pegs.

The third skill is Pyramid Power with Kat Tut

Hit the green peg with Kat Tut and for that shot and the next 4 the free ball bucket will transform into a pyramid giving you a better chance at scoring that always appreciated free ball.

Space Blast with Splork

Hit that green peg and all the surrounding pegs will be hit. This skill is especially effective on levels where the pegs are grouped in clusters.

Flippers with Claude

Once you hit the green peg two claws will appear on the bottom corners of the screen. This transforms the game into a pin ball game of sorts where you use the claws to try to flip the ball back into play or into the free ball bucket. These last for 3 shots.

Spooky Ball with Renfield Pumpkin

Spooky Ball is one of my favorites. If you hit a green peg Spooky Ball is activated and you go down the level like normal but once you fall out the bottom the ball will then drop from the top of the screen to go through a whole second time. If you manage to hit the purple point boosting peg you will get a free ball almost every time.

Flower Power with Tula Sunflower

Activate her power by hitting the green peg and the closest 1/5 of the orange pegs left will light up. You need to hit these early in the level to have any effect.

Lucky Spin with Warren Rabbit

Hit a green peg using this skill and a spinner will immediately pop up. The spinner will either land on extra ball, triple score, magic hat or one skill from a different master. This is a good skill to use if you are trying to get a lot of points. If the spinner lands on magic hat a little hat will appear on top of your ball and the pegs the hat touches as well as your ball will light up. This also carries on to the next shot.

Fireball with Lord Cinderbottom

Activate this power and the next shot you have will be a large fireball that will burn right through the pegs. If done correctly you can shoot it off the free ball bucket and walls to hit the maximum amount of pegs and then land it back into the free ball bucket.

Last but not least is the Zen Shot with Master Hu

Hit the green peg and on your next shot you line up the shot but then Master Hu will move your shot slightly to give it the "maximum zen" meaning the best possible shot. This is really helpful on levels that have sliding possibilities or at the end of a level if you need to hit more than one peg in one shot.

There are duels, challenges and online multiplayer as well as the adventure mode. I recommend this game for anyone. It's family friendly and funny. I got Peggle off XBLA, but I've seen versions to download online at popcap.com and versions for the DS and also for ipods.

You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Possibly THE WORST movie I've ever seen. Only one part in the whole movie made me laugh and the rest was vomit inducing. From the trailers you can tell that he's an Israeli soldier who quits to become a hair dresser in America. What they don't show is that the reason he becomes a popular hair dresser is because he has sex with all of his clients when he's done with their hair. That being said his clients are OLD OLD OLD ladies.



Come on Adam no one wants to see that.

Heroes

Unfortunately, Heroes clearly needs some help. It is very apparent that they have no idea where they are going and they are just making it up as they go along. While they had many opportunities to turn the show around and make it great again they have ignored them and this last Monday's episode was TERRIBLE. I don't care about Angela's troubled past. While it did put some light on how the company was started the company has been dead for a while now so it was too little too late. I do realize that they are starting a new company or family as Peter put it, but I still don't need background information on the old company that didn't work. I didn't understand why Angela was making them all dig up a ton of bodies instead of just telling them what happened. I hated the whole part with Angela's long lost weather-controlling sister Alice. It was disturbing to see a 50 year old woman act like a 6-year-old. And what was with her blond curly hair? She didn't look anything like the actress that played her as a little girl or like she could be related to Angela for that matter.

I did however like how Angela said she was stealing socks for her sister and that takes you back to the first season where she was arrested for stealing socks. That is the only major link like that so far in this show and it reminded me of LOST...only not nearly as good. The episode ended in the patrelli family and HRG sitting in a diner watching the shape-shifting Sylar do a press conference as Nathan. We are now 2 episodes away from the end of the season and I feel like it has gone no where.

In my opinion they need to make many adjustments to make this show watchable once more. Here are a few suggestions:

Give Peter his frickin' powers back.

"Baby touch-and-go" needs to touch Peter and make him a bad ass again. He used to be the counterpart to Sylar and now Sylar has gained about 5 more powers while Peter is down to struggling to swap one power at a time and it is driving me crazy. He made the show and if you haven't noticed he was a bad ass... the show was awesome, he sucks now...so does the show. There's a correlation there that the writers apparently haven't noticed. You know what else? Bring back Caitlin.

You know, Peter's love interest the Irish girl from season 2. While she wasn't all that attractive and her accent wasn't very good I liked her a lot. They just phased her out. I guess she's lost in a future that they stopped from happening... I'm not sure how that works. I liked the interactions between her and Peter and let's face it we need more of Peter.

Make Mohinder a Hulk (but not green).

I think this is clearly where they should have gone with the Mohinder character. It would be awesome. It's such a waste that he is now just wandering around still trying to find out stuff about his dad.

I'm glad Ali Larter's character Tracy died.

However, a piece of her broken face winked so I think she might come back which would make me sad :( Don't do it.

Give Hiro all his powers back.

"Baby touch-and-go" gave Hiro back his ability to stop time but not to teleport and he needs them both. While watching him wheelbarrow Ando out of a room full of government agents was mildly amusing the second time with Matt Parkman was annoying. Just let the dude teleport come on.

Quit trying to display Claire's emotional turmoil.

Brutal. I preferred watching her bones pop out.

If they do these few things the show would be a million times better.

No Use Crying Over Spilled Milk

In my house the saying now goes "No use crying over spilled milk... unless your 3-year-old decides to dip her hands and feet in the milk and make hand prints/footprints all over the kitchen and dining room... then you can cry all you want."

Taken

We just watched this movie the other night. I didn't think I was going to like it as much as I did. While I don't agree with the commercial slogan "Move over Borne" Liam Neeson did a much better job being an action hero than I thought he would. I thought it was kind of funny seeing Maggie Grace as Shannon a fairly slutty mid 20's character from Lost

play a 17-year-old virgin in Taken

I'm pretty sure in real life she's more like the LOST character.

Zac Efron SNL

SNL's host this week was Zac Efron. While overall the episode was not anything extraordinary there were a few skits that were quite funny.


There was also a skit called army bound I can't find of Zac Efron leaving on a train and Casey Wilson running next to it which I thought was the best of the night. The one of Jason Sudeikis showing Zac Efron how to give a foot massage was also pretty funny. I thought the Gilly skit was funny the first time I saw it, but this time it didn't make me laugh at all. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed and I thought they did a pretty good job. The maps song sounded exactly like it does on Rockband. I didn't like the lead singers hair cut or her outfit, but I don't really care. I hope the upcoming episode with Justin Timberlake is really funny he's one of my favorite SNL hosts.

New Band

The musical guest on SNL this last week was a band called Phoenix. I have never heard them before, but I really enjoyed them. Check 'em out.

Resident Evil 5

Playing 2 player co-op through Resident Evil 5 was really fun. Jesse and I would play it for an average of 2 hours a night and I couldn't wait to play again. Jesse played as Chris the totally roided out soldier, and I played as Sheva the hot African soldier Chris gets partnered with. While there are no real surprises in the plot I was surprised by some of the enemies we encountered on our journey.





Eventually (after some minor disagreements) we were able to work together to defeat all the foes and save the world from the most metro final boss I've ever seen.



If you're looking for a new co-op experience I highly recommend trying this game. It took the good part of an hour to get the controls down pat, but stick in there it's worth it. Those of you who are afraid it's too scary...it's more intense than scary and before almost every boss it shows a cut scene of what you're about to fight so you should be ready for it. Throughout the story you find treasures hidden in various locations that you can sell at the beginning of each new level for new weapons, health, armor or weapon upgrades which really add some major replay value. I can't wait to play it again and upgrade my guns even more so I can really kick some infected arse.

LOST

My all-time favorite show. LOST has everything from comedy and romance to murder and betrayal all with an AMAZINGLY put together story. Everything is connected and everything has a reason. I love learning something new about the story each week and having something totally insane happen that just floors me. The writers of this show are geniuses. In other words...this is nothing like Gilligan's Island. We have seasons 3 and 4 on blu-ray and I can't wait for the rest to come out. I don't want to spoil anything for those of you who haven't watched yet, but if you haven't you're an idiot. watch it. This is the funniest fan video I've seen of LOST If you don't watch the show you probably wont get it, but here it is anyway.

American Idol

I don't care what anyone thinks I love American Idol. Megan Joy Corkrey was kicked off yesterday and while I liked her singing style, the last two weeks she picked terrible songs. This was my favorite of her performances despite the distracting boob sack dress.



But as much as I liked her because she is unique is how much I don't like her now because last night when she got kicked off she was SUCH a weirdo! Really annoying...weird faces and bird imitations. I don't get it...what the hell.



My personal favorite is Adam Lambert although Kris Allen, Matt Giraud and Danny Gokey are all good too. This has been my favorite performance so far this year even though it is totally strange...the more I hear it the more I like it.





These videos aren't the exact performances because they are copy written, but they're the closest I could find. Watch Idol these people are good.

Previous Idol contestants are also on my mind. David Cook's new music video came out yesterday and he makes out with Sarah Roemer from Disturbia in it. I like that song but not as much as Light On. Jason Castro was in the audience last night and I can't help but wonder what he is doing? If he made an album I would have bought it already so again...what is he doing? Kelly Clarkson's new album All I Ever Wanted is great I love it. I couldn't help but notice a similarity with the intro of her song Save You to the intro to Alkaline Trio's song Radio. Have a listen.

Burn Notice

Jes and I have been looking for some new shows to try. While Burn Notice is now in it's second season we just recently picked it up. For those of you who don't know what it is about, there is a semi-attractive CIA agent who gets "burned" or fired from the CIA and is stuck in the city they left him in (Miami) with no money and only the few people that stick by him as he struggles to get his life back together and find out the reason he was burned. In the mean time he does odd jobs using his CIA skills to earn a living. It's a fun show to watch. Anyway, I was watching an episode the other day and one of the special guest appearances took me down memory lane.



That's right folks...Zachary Ty Bryan a.k.a. "Brad Taylor" from the somehow hit show Home Improvement.
...you know, the sorta funny looking older brother...not much has changed.