Same Old Formula

There are several shows that I watch regularly. I watch the NBC Thursday lineup which includes Community, 30 Rock, The Office, Up All Night, and Parks and Recreation. A few of these shows have been switching out for a time while another steps in its place. 30 Rock was on hiatus to start the TV season, then Community, then Parks and Rec, and when they returned they pretty much all delivered. I also watch Modern Family, Psych, and White Collar. There used to be some others in the rotation, and then I'll lose interest. Lately we've also been watching the dramas Awake, along with Alcatraz before it finished up.

There's something about a couple of these shows that I'm just getting bored of lately. One thing in particular. It's the constant make-you-so-uncomfortable-that-you-can-barely-stand-to-sit-still-while-beginning-to-physically-and-mentally-curl-up kind of humor that is really old to me. The Office did this wonderfully for awhile with Michael Scott, and now they do it with Andy, mostly, but they'll rotate it among some of the other characters. It especially bothers me when it happens to Jim because he was the one guy on there who was obviously the cool, most normal person that you could relate to, but now that everyone is free game, it's just kind of old. Where it's really bothering me is that now Modern Family is resorting to it, and it just feels like such a cop-out to me.

(Another thing is the addressing the camera as if its another person, but only part of the time. I'm not actually tired of it yet, but it's been recycled a lot.)

But let me say, for the record, I've never had a big affinity for this kind of humor. There are plenty of these kinds of guys out there, and everyone has run into them at some point in time. They're the ones that think it's the funniest thing in the world to make everyone else so uncomfortable that they can barely stomach it. They'll purposefully ask awkward questions. They think it's funny when other people recoil. I've never really thought much of that kind of humor. I mean, I can appreciate it when it's well done, and it's one of those things where it takes real guts to ask something so dumb/inappropriate that you just kind of stand there slack-jawed, hardly believing what you're witnessing. But it's definitely one of those things that gets butchered or overplayed when used by the wrong person.

I realize that in some ways, I'm totally snotty when it comes to my TV show humor. I want clever, and I think that what I laugh at tends to be smarter and more sophisticated than a lot of what's out there. And while I openly say that I think my humor is more sophisticated, I still laugh at a lot of things that are silly and goofy, but I just want it to be done in a skillful way. Let me give you an example.

First of all, this is totally dumb, but this video that got passed around a little bit last week by some friends of mine on some of the social media things was the funniest thing in the world to me. I was in tears
.

It obviously kills some of the humor to have to explain a joke, but let me do it anyway: The genius behind this is not just how ridiculously bad the cover is. It's all about the presentation. You have one of the most climactic moments in the movie, a time when the dinosaurs are finally unveiled to the researchers who spent their whole lives in their study of these extinct animals, and the scene is backed up by a musical score that now everyone in the whole world knows as another awesome John Williams piece to another great movie in Jurassic Park, to have it cut in with some idiot's terrible rendition that is barely recognizable, but only because you know both the movie and the music so well. Genius, right? That's what gets me going.

But Modern Family is taking a big hit right now. And The Office keeps on repeating this same mistake. It's the kind of thing where the characters act so idiotically that I wonder aloud, who in the world would ever do that? It works on something like Seinfeld because the characters never stop being absurd, but I just have a hard time buying it when it seems inconsistent with what I thought was developed with the character.

And I guess that's why I love Community. I totally recognize that it's not for everyone. A lot of people won't connect to it, and may even have the same kind of complaints about that show that I have of these other ones, but I think it's the most creative show because it doesn't have any boundaries. The show takes shots at other shows without pulling any punches (Glee, for instance), and do things like a documentary style pillow fight civil war. Not every episode is a hit, but it delivers far more often than it misses.

I think that's what made people appreciate Arrested Development. It's not conventional, and it makes you feel like you're getting something more than the same old song and dance that you see in so many other shows. Is that too much to ask for?

Sasha and Twitch

One from last week's performance episode. I love Sasha, and anything that Twitch does has me sold too. It's just another one of those where everything just intersects perfectly - dancers, choreography, music, and performance. Loved, loved, loved this one.

Conan Speaks!

Is there a more gracious person than Conan O'Brien? I posted about his sign-off from NBC and I really appreciated how he handled his situation with so much class. I just loved how he handled that whole thing even though he totally got the raw end of the deal.

Anyway, he was asked to give the commencement speech to the graduating class at Dartmouth college this year. (Here is the text of his speech.) He is self-effacing and very funny throughout the first 16-17 minutes or so. In spite of earlier protests against Bush Sr., he gives the elder statesman some very complimentary remarks which I just love. What's really cool, though, is how thoughtful and personal his comments were to those students. Here's an excerpt I'd like to direct you towards:

Yes, you parents must be patient because it is indeed a grim job market out there. And one of the reasons it's so tough finding work is that aging baby boomers refuse to leave their jobs. Trust me on this. Even when they promise you for five years that they are going to leave—and say it on television—I mean you can go on YouTube right now and watch the guy do it, there is no guarantee they won't come back. Of course I'm speaking generally. 

But enough. This is not a time for grim prognostications or negativity. No, I came here today because, believe it or not, I actually do have something real to tell you.

Eleven years ago I gave an address to a graduating class at Harvard. I have not spoken at a graduation since because I thought I had nothing left to say. But then 2010 came. And now I'm here, three thousand miles from my home, because I learned a hard but profound lesson last year and I'd like to share it with you. In 2000, I told graduates "Don't be afraid to fail." Well now I'm here to tell you that, though you should not fear failure, you should do your very best to avoid it. Nietzsche famously said "Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger." But what he failed to stress is that it almost kills you. Disappointment stings and, for driven, successful people like yourselves it is disorienting. What Nietzsche should have said is "Whatever doesn't kill you, makes you watch a lot of Cartoon Network and drink mid-price Chardonnay at 11 in the morning."

Now, by definition, Commencement speakers at an Ivy League college are considered successful. But a little over a year ago, I experienced a profound and very public disappointment. I did not get what I wanted, and I left a system that had nurtured and helped define me for the better part of 17 years. I went from being in the center of the grid to not only off the grid, but underneath the coffee table that the grid sits on, lost in the shag carpeting that is underneath the coffee table supporting the grid. It was the making of a career disaster, and a terrible analogy.

But then something spectacular happened. Fogbound, with no compass, and adrift, I started trying things. I grew a strange, cinnamon beard. I dove into the world of social media. I started tweeting my comedy. I threw together a national tour. I played the guitar. I did stand-up, wore a skin-tight blue leather suit, recorded an album, made a documentary, and frightened my friends and family. Ultimately, I abandoned all preconceived perceptions of my career path and stature and took a job on basic cable with a network most famous for showing reruns, along with sitcoms created by a tall, black man who dresses like an old, black woman. I did a lot of silly, unconventional, spontaneous and seemingly irrational things and guess what: with the exception of the blue leather suit, it was the most satisfying and fascinating year of my professional life. To this day I still don't understand exactly what happened, but I have never had more fun, been more challenged—and this is important—had more conviction about what I was doing.

I just think it's so cool how much he insight he gives about how much he was able to grow from what is probably his greatest disappointment. I think Conan just jumped into the short list of people I'd like to meet someday. He just seems awesome. And here's the video if you're interested in watching any of it. He's really funny throughout. You'll be glad you read/watched it.

A Gleek No More

Everyone has his/her things, right? I'm talking about members of our Church. A person will take a hard-line stance on a particular issue, say, R-rated movies and swear off of them and speak vehemently against them because our Church leaders have said simply, we do not watch R-rated movies.

And then that's it.

We'll go ahead and watch other things of questionable morality because Church leaders haven't explicitly stated, do not watch such and such. Left to our own devices, a lot of times we miss the mark. We keep the letter, but not the spirit of the law. Often we have those two things confused. We think that the letter is harsher than the spirit. It's not. The spirit is always more strict. For example, the letter says don't watch R-rated movies, but the spirit would indicate, don't watch anything of questionable morality, right?

I'm not perfect with that particular law. I had no restrictions growing up and so I was really used to just watching any ol' movie I felt like. Then I got to BYU and met a whole world of people who never watched any R-rated movies and I thought that was such a revelation. Good for them, and now good for me too! I reformed, didn't watch anything and was off serving in the vineyard called Chile.

Since then I've been off and on. I think more on than off. To be honest, it had a lot to do with who I was dating at the time, although there was a period of several years when I wasn't dating anyone and I held hard and fast to that rule. Now I'm on, and that has a lot to do with Amy's influence, but I think on my own I'd be pretty steady in this area. But every so often now, I'll let certain things in from time to time. (Example: I saw 127 hours. It was really good, but awfully graphic. Anyway...)

I'm getting away from my main point. Last year I let myself get into Glee because it was fun. They had cool performances, clever writing, and some cute characters, but at the beginning of the Fall season, I just got so turned off to it. Kurt became too central to the show's plot, Finn was constantly villainized, and I just hated it. I deleted it from my DVR.

Then a week or so ago I was stretching post-run in my room, and I'll always turn on the TV while I'm just sitting there, and Glee happened to be on so I thought I'd give it another chance. It was an episode about alcohol awareness and the whole cast was getting drunk, and the theme basically centered on how no one in the world could ever be expected to abstain completely, so try and be wise about when and where you do it. It boiled my blood.

I just can't stand this show. It's not just the same-sex issues. It's not just about the show's rampant promiscuity. It is pretty much everything about it. The show just seems to cut against the grain of anything and everything that we as Church members believe in. It makes me wonder how I can draw a strict line when it comes to the movies I'll watch, and then let this garbage on through just because there isn't an explicit declaration about TV-MA type shows.

What bothers me most about the show is that it has such an obvious target audience. Whether we think so or not, we are subtly influence by every message that is thrown our way. It comes through in what we see, hear, and read. And I guess this show is so irksome to me because it is supplying our youth, and ourselves, with false impressions of what is really valuable. It lowers our values and commitments to sacred principles. I guess it just bothers me because it subverts so much of what is supposed to be so valuable to us, and it aims primarily at kids who are so impressionable.

I hate coming off as self-righteous about this because I know that there is so much that I do wrong, but this is one thing that I know I can cut out. If you watch it, please don't. Let's not invest our time and attention into supporting something that doesn't agree with our standards. It's garbage, and will only hold us back. For a time I let myself get caught up in it too, but I'm done with that now. This is one less thing on my list of a million things to work on. If it isn't one of yours yet, please make it so now.

Old Spicin' It Up

So, just like everyone else that reads this, about 50 of my closest Facebook friends posted this HBLL commercial mimicking the Old Spice campaign:



Pretty fun commercial. Now I don't know if this is the case with all of the Old Spice commercials, but at least the first one that aired on the Super Bowl back in January was done in one take. The ad wizards explain how they did it here:



I also kind of love the less heralded odor blocker commercials, like this one:



And apparently, in the last few days or sometime recently, the guys in charge of these ads put together dozens of other mini-responses. Seriously, dozens. You can go to their YouTube page by clicking here.

I've only seen a few of them, but I absolutely love this one:



This has got to be the smartest ad campaign ever. I think everyone has viewed their commercials at least a hundred times and is hanging on for when the next one will come out.

Silverfish hand-catch!

Geeked About Glee...Mostly

I was turned onto this show about halfway through the first installment of the first season. It's funny and clever, the characters are over the top, and the performances are first rate. One of my favorite things about the show is how well they are able to write the songs into the storyline of the show. I loved when Finn did Jessie's Girl. Good stuff.

This is what I don't like...

It was showcased extensively in last night's episode, but I do not like Kurt's storyline with his father, and now Finn and his mom moving in with his family. There was some discussion of this last night with some of the people I watched. I get Kurt's father wanting to protect his son, and wanting to make sure that no one tramples over him. The part about the whole thing that I find somewhat disturbing, however, is that while there has to be so much respect accorded to Kurt and his choice in lifestyle, that somehow obligates everyone else to acquiesce to his tastes, namely, his extreme flamboyance.

I can understand the need to be respectful and not hateful towards another person, because as a simple matter of humanity, that is how all people should be treated, but shouldn't Finn also receive an appropriate amount of respect from Kurt as well when it comes to respecting his own beliefs and preferences. At the end of last night's episode, Finn capitulated and ended up putting on an extremely loud and gay costume that was supportive of Kurt, but completely negating himself and his own beliefs, when the whole premise of the episode was about expressing who you really are. Why is it okay for Kurt to be so flamboyant and grossly feminine and not okay for Finn to want to be masculine and conservative in his own right?

I think this is one of the fundamental problems with the gay debate. The homosexual community just wants to be "respected" and "left alone," but this comes at the expense of those who oppose that lifestyle who want to have their own freedom of expression and belief. What ends up happening is what occurred in the show last night - in order for a straight person to be tolerant and accepting of another person, he must reject himself in the process. People on the other side of the debate do not realize this one point. It's a fundamental difference that loses its expression in the argument for either side. The two camps have two different systems of belief that do not reconcile well with one another. And the answer isn't as simple as just being more loving/accepting/tolerant, and anyone who pretends it is that way is denying the other side its validity as a point of contention.

Besides that I think Glee is really fun.

So Sue Me

I like this stupid show. A couple weeks ago a friend of mine was having a housewarming party up in Midway and I met up with a friend that I hadn't seen in a little while. I don't remember how the movie came up, but she started talking about Steel Magnolias and I was like, yeah, that movie is a little too feminine for me. Surprised by my response, she then said, "yeah, but you're Chris," meaning that my tastes are broader than other guys (hopefully that's what she meant). It really made me laugh though to hear that. Dang it! I am Chris. I'm not always sure what that means.

Anyway, so another season of SYTYCD ended, and I think maybe it was just too much too soon. Most people I know who love the show weren't as excited about this season as they were about others, myself included. However, there were some really amazing moments during the season.

I have to say, Jakob for me was head and shoulders above the rest. I thought he was just amazing in everything that he danced. I figured he wouldn't win, and wasn't disappointed that Russell got the title. That reaction of his, tearing off the shirt, was kind of priceless. There is something just so primal about that response, you know? Like it mentions in the Bible when David heard that Saul and Jonathan died that he rent his clothes in anguish. Soccer players take off their shirts when they score goals. It's something just kind of animal and raw, like a very primitive form of expression. I think it's cool.

Anyway (again), I think this dance particular dance was my favorite. It kind of stopped my heart when I saw it the first time. Jakob is awesome, and Kathryn is just so beautiful in it. It's choreographed by the two male contemporary dancers. I think they've done one other routine, and it too, was kind of amazing. The way Kathryn walks up to Jakob at the end of the number, pulling her hair with her hand on the opposite side of her head is just so incredibly sexy. And the Michael Buble song is just perfect for the piece.

So, without further ado, Jakob and Kathryn.

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

This season has been kind of weird for me and SYTYCD. Sometimes I could care less, but then a particular routine will jump out and just blow me away. I'm not really a fan of anyone in particular. They're all pretty decent. I like Kathryn just because I think she's super cute, same goes for Noelle. I think Jakob is by far the best dancer, although the other guys are all pretty good also.

Anyway, this week I just loved loved loved this routine by the dance group whose name graces the title of this post. I was looking through some of their other videos and current contestant, Legacy, actually used to be (or still is?) a member of the group. My favorite guy is the one dude doing all of the stuff on his hands who smoothly spins to a stop at the end of the routine. I just can't believe how fluid he is, and the variation he has in his speed. Just amazing. But the best part has to be the part in the middle with the perfectly synchronized martial arts moves.


As an added bonus, a friend of mine sent me the trailer for this independent film, Babies.

Odds And Ends

So I guess this video below served as some of the inspiration behind the concept of the show Glee.



I'm no Gleek yet, but I've seen a couple of shows and it's actually pretty funny. There are a few things that bother me about it, but they're the subtle kinds of statements that the show makes that I am inclined to read into.

My roommate got Wii Fit, and so far I broke all of his records on there except for the ski jump. He's kind of a goofy guy because he loves talking trash even if he's not always in a position to do so, and I don't think I normally would get competitive about this sort of thing, but his need to tough talk fuels my competitive fire. So I broke his record earlier this week, and then he took it back the next day. I was going to let it go until last night when he made a point of telling me that he put some distance between the top score and my own. So how did I react? I waited until he went to bed, then I stayed up until 1:00 a.m. last night not only breaking his record, but then scoring so high and often that his name doesn't even appear on the top 10 list anymore. How's that for idiocy? And I did that in spite of still having to prep for today's stats lab that I had to teach that started at 8:30 a.m. That's the kind of person that writes this blog.

Amazingly enough, I have no plans in the near future to go see New Moon. I only saw Twilight a few months ago, and I have to say that seeing Bella on screen reminded me how much I dislike her character. Why would dreamy Edward ever want such a desperate high school girl? I don't care if her scent drives him crazy. You know what drives me crazy? Stupid girl that is overly dramatic that has no confidence in the love that the people around her have for her. At least this film looks like they spent a few more dollars on the budget, so it shouldn't be as bad as the first one. Hopefully.

In SYTYCD news, I have really been anti-Ashleigh and Legacy for most of this season, but they've actually been pretty impressive the last couple weeks. The hip hop number that started the show was really, really good. I really liked Travis' contemporary routine, and it was danced pretty well, but you know what bothered me about it? Ryan's body is just TOO big. It looks awkward because it's just way too bulky. He is nimble for such a big guy, but his is not a dancer's physique. He should be a bouncer or something. Like I said before, I haven't really cared much for his wife, Ashleigh, but she's been really good the last couple of weeks and I love her arms. I thought she looked really good, and really, her arms are pretty perfect, and she danced it really well. Jakob is super gay, so I don't relate with him all that much, but that guy can dance. He's been outstanding in everything so far. He's the best, in my opinion. I was hoping for more out of the Nathan and Mollee piece. They heaped praise on them, but I didn't think they were that great, and I'm a big Nathan fan. Anyway...



That's about all I gots for now. Have a great weekend, dear ones!

SYTYCD Tour

This event in itself was pretty amazing. The show was more entertaining as a whole than I would have otherwise anticipated, and it was nice to see all of the favorites from the summer being performed live again. Every major dance piece that I wanted to see was done that night.

The best solos came from the two dancers not in the top 10, Phillip and Caitlyn. I think Brandon, Ade and Jeanette were the best performers by far. Every movement by Brandon and Ade had so much pop and so much extension. Even though they had already been to so many other cities, everything they did looked like it was for the first time on stage. Randi, of course, got a huge ovation from the crowd being that she's from Orem. Phillip had the loudest applause of the night after his solo, which also was probably a full minute longer than all of the other dancers. Below is a somewhat decent video from the same night:


The most entertaining part of the evening was supplied by the two teenage girls sitting to my left during the show. Not only did they scream so loudly and constantly that their voices were hoarse before the intermission, but they knew most of the dances being performed and did their own renditions of them from their seats. Their favorite, by far, was Jason. I swear, if there were some way to tap into hyper-teenage-girl-energy, we would have an endless supply of renewable energy that could provide for the needs of our country. I just loved how rigid with excitement they became at just about everything that happened that night. That alone made up for the price of admission.

Now onto my favorites...I had kind of forgotten about this number by Ade and Janette:


I've posted these last two before, but they're both my favorites so you get another taste:




Some other favorites included the addiction dance with Kapono and Kayla, disco with Brandon and Janette, and the contemporary number with Jason and Jeanine where they make-out at the end. It was a lot of fun, and I have no problem admitting that I loved every minute of it.

SNL Critique Of Obama

I was surprised by this opening segment on SNL over the weekend:

Does this finally mean that Obama will be subject to at least some scrutiny by the media? Even if this doesn't signal the beginning of some actual criticism of his presidency, it's nice to have his presidency so cleanly laid out which has largely amounted to nothing.

Yeah, It's Back

I still have mixed feelings about the having this during the Fall TV season, but I can't help myself when it comes to some of these dancers. The first dancer in this video, Ryan, tried out for last season's show and it came down to him and his brother, and they ended up taking his brother for the Top 20. He ended up making the final 3, which I cannot believe, but whatever, that's neither here nor there.

Anyway, what I really love about this audition is how artistic it is. The tapping is great, but I feel like there's a level of artistry in this that is just a little above and beyond. Following his audition, another tapper from last seasons has her audition, which ends up being a tap "battle" of sorts. It's really great.

Give the video a minute to load up. It took me some time to figure out how to do it, but I changed the embed code so that it would upload at the part that I liked, so it takes a second to stream to that point.



While passing time waiting in line, a friend of mine asked if I could be a professional singer or dancer, which would I rather choose. At the time I said singer, but I think I might have to go with dancer. I love the athleticism involved, but also creativity it allows for. I dunno, I guess my answer was influenced in part by the one that I thought would allow me to be more masculine, which I still think is singer. Maybe I could just be a JT hybrid and sing cool songs, but also be an awesome dancer. Like Usher? Or MJ?

Everybody Get Down Tonight

If I don't end up getting married in the temple, it'll be because I wanted to have an entrance like unto this one for the wedding party. Unfortunately the embedding has been disabled on the video so you'll have to just go ahead and click on the link to view from YouTube. If that's what a group of semi-coordinated white people can do, imagine how much better it can get.

Dance is the best. The best. Even Petros on the PMS show loves So You Think You Can Dance. It's both athletic and artistic. In any case, I thought last week's performance show from SYTYCD was the best yet this season. They had a number of really awesome routines. These were my favorite:



I actually got a little emotional with that one. The story is about breast-cancer. This one is a Shane Sparks' hip hop routine which was pretty awesome.



And I think this one was my favorite of the season. Brandon is so super gay, but you can really see in this video just how hard he hits his moves. He makes Jeanine, who is a super awesome girl on the show, look average.

As of a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't been feeling invested in anybody in particular, but when Ade was in the bottom two a couple weeks back, all of a sudden I got very invested. But to be honest, with the exception of Evan, I think anyone from the top 6 could win and be completely deserving. They're all just really good dancers, but let's go for the local boy Ade who is attending Chapman University.

Reality TV Goodness

This was the first dance of the good part of the season. First, I'm really impressed with the video quality of this one - perfect cut, high resolution, probably one of the best quality videos I've seen on YouTube. Anyway, the dance is great. However, what I really wanted to post about is one of the virtues of this show being a reality TV show, which is how authentic some of the reactions are as they happen on screen.

Last week in the results show they played a clip of Ryan (Evan Kazprzak's brother), who was cut this season in favor of his brother, trying out for Season 6 that is going to premier in the fall.

*Sidenote* I'm actually a little nervous about the show playing in the fall to be honest. I'm not sure that it will play very well to the wider audience and having to go up against the Fall TV lineup. I also kind of like having it being the only show that I look forward to in the summer. Seriously, there is no other regular TV programming that I follow all summer long. There are already so many other shows that I watch during the normal TV season that I think it's going to take less of a priority for a lot of people, including myself. But mostly what it comes down to is this idea: have you ever had a song that you were out of your mind in love with and you didn't have a copy of the song yet, but went crazy whenever you heard it on the radio? My example would be Offspring's song All I Want. Loved, loved, loved that song and I would even schedule time around the Furious 5 at 9 on KROQ to listen to it because I always knew that I could hear it there. I ended up buying the cd just for the song, but hearing it at any time that I wanted to didn't elicit the same kind of jubilation that it did when I could only hear it through great scheduling efforts, or by chance on the radio. It was like hearing that song on the radio meant that the radio gods were smiling upon me and I could do my harvest celebration dance because fortune smiled upon me and it was as excited as I could be. When control became all my own for listening to the song, it always lost some of its glamor. So I think in a similar way, while I don't think there are many people who love this show more than I do, it might be a little bit of overkill to have it playing consecutive seasons. It's like waiting all year for all of other TV to end so that I could finally get a fresh drink of refreshing SYTYCD water in the desert of summer programming that makes it so amazing. But having it immersed now in the sea of other great television is not going to allow it to stand out in the fall TV season as it does in the summer. Does that make any sense? That is the longest aside ever....

Anyway, back to Ryan's try-out. I so wish that I could find the clip of his try-out because it's just so real. And this is my point - reality TV, kind of like sports, has the ability to provide such an authentic quality - real human emotion. Ryan's try-out was so artistic, and I felt fully caught up in what he performed, but in addition to that, I just loved Cat's reaction to the whole thing. Laura, if you're here, I really think that if you don't love Cat by now then you are the Grinch. Her reaction to watching that video was just so genuine and sweet, and then to see his brother Evan's reaction to seeing the clip and reading his partner Randi's question about whether or not he knew that was all going to happen was just so refreshing. It was just priceless.

From here on out there will probably be more SYTYCD posts this summer. I'm sure that at some point this summer I'm going to get tickets. If anyone is interested in attending with me since my friends at home mostly have real lives now, leave me a comment and I'll keep you posted when they become available.

The great thing so far about this season is that while I don't have any particular attachments to any dancers on the show yet (which is actually half the fun), there have been consistently strong performances from the dancers. They always say that "this is the best season yet," but in this case it might actually be true. The dancers are really top notch. Another great thing is the return of Wade Robson and Shane Sparks to choreographing dances for the show. I don't always love Mia's stuff, which I know is sacrilege to a lot of the show's fans, but her opening ensemble piece from last Thursday was really cool. All good stuff.

Stay Tuned!

Who Is With Me?

So You Think You Can Dance started up again a couple weeks ago, and the Top 20 gets finalized tonight. It is so ridiculous how much I love this show. A couple of my early favorites are already gone - the popper with the red hair, and Natalie who was cut just before the top 20 last year. Is anyone else really surprised that they just cut her outright but let Gabby dance for her life when she sucked in everything besides her solo? Weird.

You know what else is funny? I become such a critic when I'm watching the show - oh, she's off beat; he's not extending his hands; she has beautiful lines. Can I be any more gay?

Yes. I'm signed up for tickets again, but I have no idea who would be able to go when I do get them. Any takers? Anyway, here is the best dance from last year. I still get chills when I see this one....so gay.

Enjoy!

Goodbye, Scrubs

I fully recognize that the show had dipped in quality the last few seasons, but that doesn't change the fact that there were still some treasures here and there, and I can never get enough of Turk and JD's friendship. There were a lot of moments throughout the series that really hit home for me, and a lot of times when I've laughed as hard as I've ever laughed while watching anything.

Scrubs has been with me through some tough times in the last few years when all I wanted was an escape to a TV reality that wasn't my own. Maybe that's part of why I love the show so much. In any case, I'll miss you Scrubs, at least until I can scrape together enough money to buy all the DVDs.

This is one of my favorite scenes from the last episode:

My Favorite Scrubs Episodes

Of course I'm supposed to be working on my thesis right now, so naturally I'm resorting to the blog as my outlet. You know, the usual. Anyway...I love this show more than any other in my entire life. I have my Tivo record episodes and even though I'm sure I've seen all of them several times, I still will watch an episode when I'm about to eat a meal, do some workout routine in my living room, or when I just want to kill 20 minutes.

It only makes sense, then, that I have a number of favorite moments and episodes. These are the first three that come to my mind, and I didn't really mean for these to be such sober ones either, but I guess there is something really memorable about the melancholy.

This one comes from a point when JD just said no to a woman (TCW, for those of you who are big enough fans to know that that refers to) who is just starting to get over the passing of her husband.



In this episode, Jordan's brother has just returned to visit his best friend, Dr. Cox, when they find out that his cancer is no longer in remission. He passes away during the episode. The first time I saw this one I cried.



And this last episode is when Elliot gets engaged to Keith. This one is my favorite episode above all others because it is really funny throughout, but then just so sad at the end. The episode is titled My Cold Shower and all of the guys daydream about what it would be like to be married to Elliot. All the guys experience some sort of sexual frustration and then it would flash to them in a cold shower. They're all funny up until the last one that features JD.

Anyway, this first clip is Turk imagining married life with Elliot...



And here is when Elliot finally gets engaged.



You know what really makes each of these clips so poignant is the music that they choose to accompany them. I know that at some points it's not the most appropriate show, but Scrubs has seen me through some tough times in my life. I don't think I've ever watched another show where I've laughed while also feeling so much real emotion as I do when I watch this show. I don't think I'll ever feel so attached to another program.

Here's to you, Scrubs.

Recognize A Real Don When You See Juan

Is it crazy that I'm REALLY interested in seeing this movie?

Like SO interested in seeing it. And I probably won't because I'm afraid the content will get a little too explicit and maybe violent for my taste, but his music is awesome, and the story is interesting. I'm also so curious about how they will do his death and if they'll leave it kind of ambiguous or link it to Tupac.

It's amazing what they can do with television. I caught some of American Idol last night while working out, and truth be told, if I started watching it I could be totally hooked. I am such a sucker for the human interest stories. I was blown away by the white guy whose wife had passed away just four weeks earlier. I think my favorite person of the night was the band director. And Anupe-Dawg was so surprising. I felt like that's what I kept thinking the whole night; whoa! I never would have guessed that person would be so good!

It really all just comes down to good producing. I saw the promo clip for AI featuring David Cook and I actually got the chills watching that, and I have absolutely no connection to him or the show, but it affected me.

Speaking of new television I've been getting interested in, ever watch Psych? It's a USA show, but it's pretty entertaining. It has a million 80's references. And I watched all four hours of the 24 premiere on Sunday and Monday. I hadn't seen any of it since season 2, but I was immediately feeling pulled back in.

It's really just all about good packaging.

Blogworthy?

So I'm back in California after just a four day absence. I can't believe just how pleasant this place is. I probably appreciate it more now because I'm in Utah, but it really does just put me in the best mood to be in a place that is just so...comfortable. Know what I mean?

Anyway, I was telling Dave this morning about how any time something even remotely interesting crosses my path I first ask myself, is that blogworthy? Is this worth posting? Can I make it interesting/insightful/funny? And then when I do come up with a post that I know is good and also gets a good response, I'm so proud. I know not everything I put in here is 5-star material, but hopefully it's intriguing enough to keep you coming around. Or maybe you're just that bored that you keep on poking around.

I just wanted to mention a couple of quick things:

• This morning I woke up with Blame It On The Rain in my head. Seriously. And I loved it. Seriously.
• I'm really upset that the five of you who read this blog didn't start watching Pushing Daisies right away and then started convincing all of your friends that they need to watch it too. It got cancelled a couple weeks ago, and it's mostly attributed to the writer's strike last winter because it occurred right as the show was starting to build a fan-base. I love Kristen Chenoweth's character Olive, and I love even more that they feature her singing every so often to showcase her voice. She was the original Glinda in Wicked. Hers is the voice on the album. This is from the last episode:
  Gotta love The Bangles...and Olive.
• I was having a conversation recently and telling my friend that it was only about a month ago that I realized what the song Pony by Ginuwine was about. That song was released more than a decade ago and I seriously had no idea what it was referring to until a few weeks ago. I guess I never really listened to the song that often anyway, but mostly I'm glad that my thoughts don't drift often enough in that direction to pick up on those messages all the time. I bring this up because I heard a rock version of the song on KROQ this morning and it was too catchy to ignore. I would post a video, but I'm realizing just how raunchy the song really is so I'd rather not put that content directly on my blog, but here's a link to the band's MySpace page where you can listen to it. It's really catchy. The band is called Far.
• I was on Rufio's MySpace page this morning and was listening to the acoustic version they have on there of Above Me. I love it. This is for Dave, Greg, and Mike. Check it out. I hadn't heard this one before.
• Still following politics. I just haven't been that excited about any of it. I did hear an interesting story the other day about what was going on inside of the LA temple while the Anti-Prop 8 protestors were outside and the temple had just received the envelope with the white powder. The girl who was telling me about it had a cousin that was a veil worker there that day. I guess this has already started to make the rounds via email so maybe you've already heard this, but they had to close the temple down immediately. Luckily (?) there was a biochemist attending that day who actually specializes in hazardous substances and he was able to immediately identify the sub...and that was where I stopped when the mirror fell over and mercifully dodged hurting anything of real value. Right there. As I was saying...identify the substance as talc powder so all of the people knew right away that they weren't in danger, but they still had to close the temple until the FBI and hazmat people could come and clear them. The people were stuck in there for about eight hours, with everyone stuck in their exact locations when the word spread about the white powder. So what did they do? That's right...ordinances. All day long. As it turns out, they had performed only two less ordinances than they had the day before when three local stakes had temple days at the temple. You can't stop the Mormons. No unhallowed hand...
• Guy from my mission is moving out to Connecticut for grad school in the winter. I guess they're having a hard time trying to find someone to rent their place, so if you're in Utah or looking to move into Utah, they have a place in American Fork that you should check out. They're offering December free and rent for $150 below market value for their place because he doesn't want to have to start a semester late. Check it out here.

Is this burning an eternal flame?

JD and the Janitor

The scene with JD and the Janitor in the bathroom gives me joy to no end. From JD's facial expression when he's trying to remember the Janitor's name, and the whole dialogue exchange between them...it's so funny. Gotta get back to pretending like I'm writing my thesis.