Game of Thrones: Garden of Bones

There was a ton of great stuff in this episode.  I will just break it down by character.  The best part about the whole season so far has been the subtle differences between the book.  Makes me happy that I will not know exactly what will happen.

Joffrey

-The beating and humiliation of Sansa was pretty cruel, but I liked how Tyrion dealt with the situation.  Ordering Bronn to kill Ser Meryn if he speaks again ("now that is threat, see the difference?") was pretty hilarious. 
-Getting the king laid seemed like a good idea, or at least it would be a good idea if Joffrey was not a crazy psycho.  Instead of banging whores, he forces one to beat the other. 
-Everyone hates Joffrey, which is impressive that Jack Gleeson is a good enough actor to pull off such an annoying shit-head.

Robb Stark
He takes an interest in a certain nurse.  I have a feeling they are going a different route with this girl.  Honestly, I like where this could go.  Also, the dude that played Roose Bolton is creepy looking.  I look forward to meeting his bastard...

Tyrion
As I said, he was pretty awesome from the beginning.  He then continues being awesome by calling out his cousin for banging the queen.  He threatens to tell Joffrey, which just about causes Lancel to shit his pants.  That kid is such a pussy.  Oh, and we finally get to see the Grand Maester without his beard...

Arya
Seriously, her story just becomes more depressing each week.  I always feel like she is the character that gets shit on the most.  Hell, I mostly forgot about her stay at Harrenhal.  I was starting to squirm when they began to torture Gendry with the rat in a bucket.  If I remember correctly, being Tywin's cup bearer is not a great job either.

Daenaerys
They finally go somewhere.  Christ, I was starting to think they did not want to move her story along.  She brings her group to Qarth (which was nice hearing how to pronounce it).  Unfortunately, my DVR decided to glitch for a minute or two and I had no sound.  I have no clue what the one guy was saying.  I am looking forward to what will happen in Qarth.

Renly and Stannis
-Littlefinger brings back the bones of Ned, wants to trade Sansa/Arya for Jaime.
-Catelyn says that if the two kings were her sons she would smack their heads together until they remembered they were brothers.
-Stannis is pretty stupid.  He does not seem like the kind of guy who would want to be the king, instead he seems like he would want to be the man behind the king.  Why not just allow Renly to be king and control him?
-The birth of Melisandre's shadow baby was much cooler than it was in the book.  Seriously, I thought it was pretty amazing looking. 

Mad Men: Signal 30

Do you people realize that Mad Men is consistently amazing?  It is tough for me to decide which is a better show:  Mad Men or Breaking Bad.  I could probably make an argument for both.  For those of you not watching either show, well you should be ashamed of yourselves.

Please, someone buy me Don's jacket

This week's episode had a pretty simple premise:  dinner party at Pete's house in the suburbs and a night on the town with a new client.  This should be one of those episodes where you go "oh, this is boring, nothing really happened."  Instead, we get fantastic insight into the relationships of the different characters.  So cool.

-Pete and Don:  Campbell continues to look up to and want Don's approval.  He basically says so when Don actually shows up at the dinner.  There was a certain amount of jealousy when Don took off his shirt and fixed the sink.  Also, did I hallucinate, or did Pete say "Dick, I'll get the toolbox"? 

-Don and Megan:  Don does not want to go to this party.  He tells Megan to call Trudie and let her know they cannot make it.  Megan is not Betty.  She tells Don that if he wants to cancel, he has to call himself.  Betty would have said "Yes, Don" and then been miserable about it.  Good for Megan.  The best part was Don actually calling Trudie and she pretty much cuts him off and says that his excuses will not work. 

Last week we saw that Don fears that he will slip up and cheat on Megan (also, he fears that he could snap and murder someone).  This week, he really does want to please his wife.  Also, he passes up a chance to cheat on her.  At the whorehouse he passes on the girls and continues to drink.  The madam even offers him a discreet gentleman (which got a chuckle out of Don, which she asks if he has ever gotten that before).

-Trudie and Pete:  They seem like such a happy couple.  Hell, even Don seemed jealous of them with their beautiful child.  Yet, all Pete ever does is bitch about her.  All he does is yearn for some high school girl at the driver's education class (also, does any show on TV have more finger-banging scenes than this one?), then at the whorehouse he has sex and does it in the creepy Pete way.  Did anyone else think that Pete might rough the girl up a bit and end with Don having to help smooth things over?

On the drive home, Pete has a hissy fit about Don judging him.  Don drops a knowledge bomb on him, by letting him know that yes he used to cheat on his wife all the time, but maybe if he put in the work and cherished what he had, it would have worked.  He does not tell Pete to stop being an idiot, but the implication was there.

-Pete and Lane:  The new business comes from Lane's friend, who works for Jaguar.  Lane wants to handle the account himself, but is not really an account man.  He goes to Roger who gives him some pointers.  Needless to say, he fails and has to call in the big guns.  Roger, Pete, and Don take the guy out, who does not want a nice dinner, but instead wants to party.  They take him to the whorehouse.

Apparently, the dude is a moron and gets caught by his wife.  The wife found chewing gum in his pubic hair, hahahhahahahahahaha!  Yes, that is the reaction by everyone at the partner's meeting.  Lane is furious and feels that it was their fault, until they mention that it was the guy's idea.  Lane scoffs at this, but then Pete says "he didn't want to go with you because he thinks you're a homo."  Lane then challenges Pete to a fight.

They get into a boxing match in the room and Pete loses.  We all knew this day would come, someone would smack Pete around.  I figured it would be Roger (he challenged him a few episodes ago), or maybe even Don back in the first season.  Hell, I even suspected Peggy at some point.  Two things happen from this.

First thing is that Lane and Joan have a moment.  They are such a good friendship pair, but then Lane makes the mistake of kissing her.  It was awkward for everyone.  Luckily, Joan saves the moment, by opening the door and pretending like nothing happened.

Then, Pete and Don share an elevator ride.  Pete breaks down and cries about his life.  Don should probably just strangle him and put him out of his misery.  As soon as Pete realizes that he is not Don Draper and he is never going to be Don Draper, the sooner that he will be a happy individual.

Justified Finale

The season finale of Justified was pretty damn awesome.  The show found a perfect way to conclude things (seriously Sutter, pay attention!) and ended with a pretty sad moment.  Here is a quick recap of some of my favorite things.

-Quarles kidnapping a family.  I was actually nervous that he was going to start raping one of the kids.  Has there ever been a quicker descent of a villain as Quarles?  Not in a bad way, but he went from being this smart one-step ahead of everyone schemer, to a drug-addicted psychopath (yes, I realize those things were there from the beginning).

-Harlan Roulette with Winn Duffy.  I really thought Raylan might shoot him.  At least in the leg or something.  I hope Duffy is back next season.

-How much energy will Raylan expend next season to try and bring Limehouse down?

-I loved Raylan's comment to Quarles about his hidden gun:  Cute.  Also, I love how Raylan never shows any fear in these situations.  Although, he did seem a bit shaken when he realized there were a bunch of men with guns behind him at Limehouse's. 

-Who hides money in a pig like that?  Why would you hide money there?  Still a pretty cool visual.  The best thing though was Limehouse cutting off Quarles arm.

 

 -Arlo admits to killing Tom (the state trooper) and to killing Devil.  That means that Boyd gets to go free.  The show ends with Raylan telling Winona the whole story.  She asks him why Art thought Raylan might be upset about Arlo.  Raylan says that he shot Tom because he saw a cop in a hat pointing a gun at Boyd.  The implication is that Arlo was hoping he shot Raylan.  That is pretty rough.

This season was definitely not a letdown from season two.  I hope they can continue the greatness next season.

Great Television Sunday

There was plenty of great stuff on TV yesterday.  Where should I start?

The Killing
I know that plenty of people did not like this show last year, but it was just good enough to keep me interested to watch it this season.  It turns out that Richmond did not murder Rosie.  In fact, Linden thinks the whole thing might be a huge frame job.

The best aspect of the premiere has been the way Holder seemed to be the bad guy.  It then turns out that he was duped just like Linden.  A great moment was him switching backpacks and then hearing the lieutenant say it contained Richmond's prints.

I believe the conspiracy starts with the Mayor's assistant, but how far does it go?  And what is the big secret that Rosie knew?  I am intrigued.

Mad Men
The second episode of the season was fantastic.  We see what Betty has been up to since we last saw her.  She has put on a few pounds.  It honestly could not happen to a nicer person.  Sorry, that was sarcasm.  I think I have mentioned before that I think she is a terrible mother/human.

We then got to see that she could have cancer.  The first person she calls is Don and all she wants to hear is him say "Birdie, everything is going to be alright."  This causes Don to be worried about her for most of the episode.  It turns out that she does not have cancer and when Don calls to check on her, Henry answers the phone.  Henry informs Don that everything is fine, but as Henry hangs up, he is clearly pissed that Betty told him.

Another great storyline has been the Pete/Roger showdown.  Roger was able to convince Mohawk Airlines to come back (although Pete initiated the meeting).  Pete calls an office meeting and basically says that he did the work and that he is saving the company.  Roger is not pleased. 

Peggy hires a new copywriter to do Mohawk's weekly ads.  The dude is a little out there.  Roger tells Peggy that he has her back if Don does not like the hire.  Peggy is a little afraid that if this kid is too good, he could replace her (although, she does not say this, you can sense it).  Roger admits that he made a mistake hiring Pete and basically defending him when Don wanted rid of him.  Hmm, could we see Roger taking a more active role in the day-to-day operations?

Game of Thrones
I loved how they used the red comet as the segue to a new character.  What were some of my favorite moments?
-Robb talking to Jaime.  I love how Jaime tries to taunt him, but Robb gets the final taunt by bringing his direwolf into the cage and allowing Grey Wind to almost bite Jaime's face.  Jaime shows no fear until that moment.
-I still love seeing little dragons. 
-Tyrion's arrival at the Small Council meeting.  This is the beginning of him being even more awesome.  Cersei does not seem to be pleased by this turn of events. 
-Speaking of Cersei.  She slaps Joffrey, which almost causes him to snap.  He lets her know that if she ever does it again, she will die.
-Joffrey is still pretty damn crazy.  He wants to kill some drunken knight, but Sansa convinces him to make the knight his fool instead.
-Melisandre was cast perfectly.  The poisoned drink scene was pretty good, although, in the book it was much better because you get the Maester's point of view and all his thoughts going into it.
-Joffrey sends the City Watch out to murder all of Robert's bastard children.  The scene where Janos slits the babies throat was pretty hardcore.
-And then Cersei shows her power by threatening Little Finger.  He mocks her by saying that knowledge is power, she has her guards seize him and almost cut his throat.  She then has them release him.  She says "power is power."  This is not something Little Finger will forget.

Obviously this episode was just a set-up for things to come.  It was still pretty awesome, but I cannot wait for the coming weeks.

Ancient Aliens Ridiculousness

The last two episodes of Ancient Aliens have been even more idiotic than usual.  I love that they use the same six locations/incidents as proof and they just try to reanalyze it each episode.  One of these episodes focused on Pumapunku, which is a pre-Incan site in Bolivia.  You may recognize it as the place with these giant H-blocks.

Needless to say, Ancient Alien Theorists believe this place was built by aliens.  The place was built with immense precision and David Chidress shows us this precision by taking a square and showing how the cuts are exactly 90 degrees.  Except, if you watch him, he puts the square against the block and you can see that the square is not even close to being exact.  I am not taking anything away from the ancient engineers, but if you are claiming an advanced race made these blocks and they are not 100% exact, I am not buying it.

Speaking of David Childress...who is this guy?  He comes off as some expert in archaeology, but unfortunately, he actually has no real credentials.  He spent one year at a university.  He writes books about this crap and people consider him an expert.  Makes me laugh. 

Another thing the AAT kept pointing to was the fact that inside these granite blocks, there are holes drilled into them.  They claim that these holes must have been cut with some kind of drill from the future.  Maybe a hypersonic drill.  Do you know why they claim this?  When they had an expert look at the cuts, he said there was no evidence of any kind of mechanical tool used, that the markings were typical of some kind of hand tool.  Granted, the guy said that he did not think they were made with the known tools of that society at that time. 

Naturally, the AAT people came to the conclusion that they must have used something that we do not have yet.  Instead of trying to find a reasonable explanation, they went out and said "oh, it must be a hypersonic laser drill from Space Home Depot."

One of the theories regarding how the ancient folks moved these blocks the 10 KM up into the mountains says that the people used trees as rollers.  The AAT people say that this is impossible because there are no trees up that high.  Umm, this is true, but there are trees near the actual quarry site.  It would seem to make more sense to lay the rollers as you go, not backwards.  Or you can claim that they were levitated there by aliens.  Yep, that makes more sense. 

The AAT also claim that the granite is flat, which is proof that it was worked by aliens.  I am not a geologist, but I could have sworn that I heard in some science class once that granite can be naturally flat.  I have no clue whether or not the quarry where the large stones came from actually is one of those sites that produces relatively flat blocks.  However, that would probably be what I would look into.

My favorite part of the episode involved a reconstruction of what the site must have looked like.  They theorize that these blocks must have interconnected to either become a landing pad or a launch ramp.  Allow me to explain this for a second.

These aliens travel millions of light-years, they have a technology that allows them to basically bend the laws of physics.  They either have to create wormholes, which would take an enormous amount of energy, or maybe the discovered something that travels faster than light.  Even though these things sound super improbable, stay with me.

They get to Earth and the first thing they do is build a landing port made out of granite.  They do not have some kind of material or portable landing pad?  Why would they need a launch ramp?  If they made it here, would they really need to build a granite launch pad?  They would not come prepared?

Another idea is that they used Pumapunku as a base camp.  Again, I ask why build such a massive structure?  When our military went to Iraq, they did not start building a ziggurat to house the troops.  Nor did they start making tents out of animal hides like the Bedouin use.  No, they brought their own portable camps with them.  You mean to tell me that aliens would not have tents?  Or some awesome pop up building? 

The reason the H-blocks are no longer in place is because it appears that an earthquake may have hit the area at some point.  Or, if you are an AAT:  aliens destroyed the site with lasers (or a meteor) before they left.  Yet, I would think if they fired some super energy weapon at their own base camp that we would see some evidence.  Right?  Heat marks on the blocks?  What if they used a meteor?  I would hope there would be some evidence.

Or maybe there was a cosmic battle and another alien group came and destroyed the base.  After they destroyed the base though, they flew back there and picked up all the dead aliens and dropped weapons.  The wreckage was cleaned up thoroughly and to this day there is no proof of this epic battle.

The last episode focused on Bigfoot.  Yep, Bigfoot.  The AAT claim that there is a connection between UFO sightings and Bigfoot.  There probably is a connection.  Crazy people who think they see Bigfoot, whenever they see a bear, probably identify a plane as an UFO as well.

I was actually somewhat excited about this episode since I actually like watching Bigfoot shows.  They are so ridiculous, but they try so hard to be scientific.  I will actually give them points for that one.  They at least try.  The AAT do not even try.  They just make shit up.

For example, they claim that Enkido from The Epic of Gilgamesh must have been a Bigfoot.  Because he was described as a hairy wild man.  Without getting into too much of an analysis of that story, let me just say that Enkido represents the uncivilized aspect of the world around Sumer during that time.  Gilgamesh has to go out and try to defeat the wild, yet cannot.  Instead he gives Enkido a girl and that tames the wild man.

I honestly did not find too much to really care about the episode.  They were grasping at straws.  The only really far out theory was that the aliens built the Oregon caves in order to hide Bigfoot.  Seems reasonable to me.

The other day when I was at Barnes and Noble I decided to pick up Philip Coppens book, The Ancient Alien Question.  I was intrigued as I read the first couple chapters.  He basically goes about disproving many of the theories.  Then I skipped ahead to his conclusion and he still believes in ancient aliens because of the proof in his book, which like the other "proof" is just misinterpretation. 

Justified Blew My Mind

Last night's episode of Justified was one of the best in what has been an amazing season so far.  I do not need to go into everything that happened, but allow me to say one thing:  Quarles explaining how his father pimped him out to men was insanely frightening.  Look at this GIF of Wynn Duffy while Quarles tells this story.

That was pretty much my reaction as well.

The Walking Dead Season Finale

Before I begin, I just want to apologize to everyone for giving away Shane's death in last weeks episode.  I normally do not put things in the title that give things away.  If I ruined the episode for anyone, I feel bad about that.  Although, it is funny to me that no one got pissed when I gave away Dale's death the week before.  Okay, moving on...

The finale did a pretty good job of getting us off the farm.  The farm was a terrible place for the group to settle.  Definitely not secure and it amazes me that no one realized it.  Fortunately, a herd was able to come through and murder a few people and scatter the group.

They killed off a few minor characters, but nothing major.  Also, they went the ridiculous route and had everyone becoming top-shots.  I mean, obviously shooting zombies in the head from a moving car is pretty easy.  The group splits apart, but after a little they find each other.  Well everyone except for Andrea. 

The group makes a huge deal about Rick withholding his knowledge that everyone carries the zombie-disease and that is why if someone dies they automatically turn.  I actually do not understand why they are so pissed about this.  It just seems like a convenient way for the writers to try and make Rick somewhat interesting.  Also, his little speech about the group not being a democracy was pretty stupid.  I hated the slow shot of each group member's face to show their reaction to Rick's announcement that he killed Shane.  Reminded me of something you would see in Family Guy, as they pan to each character, they then finish off by showing Boba Fett or something equally ridiculous.

So the beginning was great, the middle was awesome, then it started to drag about the last fifteen minutes.  Then the last few scenes saved it.  First, we find Andrea being chased by zombies and running out of ammo.  She stumbles and seems to be done, when a sword flashes and the zombies head pops off.  We see a cloaked individual leading two armless zombies in chains. 

This will be Michonne, everyone's favorite katana wielding zombie killing machine.  Trust me folks, you will like her.  Apparently they cast her this week as well.  She will be played by Danai Gurira from Treme. 

After that, as Rick gives his speech about how he thinks there still is a place out there, the camera zooms out and we see that place is not so far away:  a prison.  This is where things become very interesting (although, I really hope they cast Tyreese for just one scene alone) and will help us find a great villain in the Governor.

The Walking Dead: RIP Shane

I knew it was coming.  I knew eventually they would have to kill Shane off.  It happened so fast in the comic, that it was actually amazing he was alive this long in the show.  I want to say that I enjoyed the show handled it.  I think if they went the comic route it would have been way too controversial.  Allow me to explain.

In the comic, Shane takes Rick out in the woods in order to shoot him.  Carl is the one to shoot Shane and afterwards, the book ends with Carl crying and Rick hugging him.  Carl then says "it is harder than shooting than the dead ones."  Rick then tells him that "it always should be."

This was the pivotal moment that defines Carl.  The kid has plenty of problems throughout the book.  Actually, for the most part he is cold and at times he scares Rick because he just does not seem to care when someone dies.

Unfortunately, parent groups would have had a fit if Carl was seen shooting Shane.  Instead, it is much more fitting to have Carl shoot Zombie-Shane.  Also, the group learns much later that someone who dies will still return to the dead.  This causes Rick to head back to where he buried Shane and finds Zombie-Shane and kill him.

Next week looks like it should be pretty good.  The farm will be invaded by zombies and hopefully this will force the group to abandon the area and search for some place new.

Oh, and did anyone else think the scene where Rick gives Carl the gun should probably be used as a Republican gun rights ad?  "Obama wants to take away your right to give your son a pistol to defend himself from zombies."

The Walking Dead: RIP Dale

Wow, I really did not see this one coming.  In the comic Dale dies much later and has a very odd relationship with Amy and Andrea.  He ends up having such a cool death that I could not imagine them not wanting to use that in the show. 

Instead they decided to kill him off just as he was making his point to the group about why they cannot murder Randall.  Fortunately, his death will have more repercussions than just Randall.  Earlier, Carl was throwing rocks at a zombie stuck in the mud.  This pissed it off and it pulled free and almost ate Carl (who then lost his pistol). 

Carl blames himself, which could lead to two things:  he tries to hide it and be more like his father, which leads him down a very dark path, or he could tell his dad about it and feel like his family and the group hate him, which leads him down a very dark path.

Also, we get to see Daryl become a more prominent member of the group.  He has been a little bit mopey after finding out that Sophia was a zombie inside the barn.  I believe that he will take up Dale's anti-Shane stance (and may actually have the physicality to stand up to him).  I also believe that Andrea will want to preserve Dale's memory and become the moral center of the group.

How will this affect Rick?  I think he will blame himself and begin to second guess his decisions.  He will believe that Dale died because he (Rick) made a decision to kill Randall, which caused Dale to take that fateful walk.  If only he had listened to Dale and given Randall more time...

Anyways, it should be an exciting rest of the season.

Another Funny Star Wars Video

This one makes me laugh because didn't Tom Selleck turn down the role of Indiana Jones.  Thinking about Tom as Indy just cracks me up.

2012: Idiot Gods

The newest season of Ancient Aliens decided to deal with the Mayan end of the world prophecy, or at least how they never really said that at all.  They had to dig very deep to find the one monument that might mention the end of the world.

Well the monument says that Bolon Yokte will be back that day and he was pretty much the god that was present during all of the other Mayan creation moments.  Or maybe it does not say that, I do not know, I am not a Mayan expert.  Anyways, the AAT folks have decided that Bolon Yokte must be the alien who will return.  And there evidence?  Aside from showing up during major creation events:  there is not much known about him.  Wow.  It truly is a scientific theory...

I honestly hope this Bolon Yokte is an alien and that he comes back.  Just look at him:

Dude has a mohawk and a chicken without a head.  Also, he has huge toenails.  Yep, this will be an awesome alien to hang out with...

TV Shows Were Good This Week

Royal Pains
This one started out like a typical episode, but then it ended with a bit of a twist.  Hank worries about Jack, who is still out with Jill.  There is a normal case and Divya ends up solving it.  Honestly, this could have been a boring episode, except for two things:

-Dr. Greene is quickly replacing Jill.  She and Hank flirt a little bit and I have a feeling she will be joining the team in a romantic way.  At least I hope so, I am sick of Jill.  And Nina is much cuter.

-All of a sudden, we find out that Jack died.  Yeah, the episode ends with Hank telling the group that Jack did not make it.  I really hope this leads Hank down a dark road.  Maybe he will become an alcoholic.  Oh wait, this is not House, Hank will most likely deal with it in his own way for a few episodes (probably two) and then we will never hear about Jack again.

Justified
Dewey running around trying to get money to pay the crazy nurse who cut out his kidneys.  Obviously, he is a moron and could not hit up anywhere that actually had plenty of cash.  Finally he becomes trapped in a convenience store's closet and eventually Raylan has to talk him out.  Raylan points out that if he can piss, then he must be alright.  Dewey pisses and then responds:  "You mean I had four kidneys?"  What an idiot.

Raylan then walks into danger (in one of the dumbest things I have seen him do) and barely escapes.  He ends up shooting the flirty doctor.  One of these days he may need to take some backup with him.

The meeting between Quarles and Boyd was also pretty damn good.  Boyd knows that he is outmatched by Quarles operation, but he is not going to allow that to stop him.  His carpetbagger speech was fantastic.

The episode ends with Raylan walking into his kitchen and finding a letter.  I am guessing that Winona will be leaving him.  That is a damn shame.

The Walking Dead
It looks like we might be finally leaving the farm.  The shows has become very slow while we stay there and have to deal with all of the drama there.

At least the episode ended with something cool happening.  Rick goes from being a weak character, to the guy who quickly draws on two guys and shoots them both.  This is the Rick we all grew to love in the comics.

Archer
Honestly, if you did not watch it, you probably suck.  "Sullen wench!"

Justified: Devil You Know

This episode of Justified was supposed to be a simple one where Raylan tracks down two escaped fugitives.  Oddly though, this episode was anything, but simple.  In actuality, the escaped fugitives were Dicky and Dewey, the two biggest idiots on the show.

They are actually broken out by the guard and the prison doctor, the guard wants Dicky's money.  Now, while all this is happening, Quarles makes an offer to Devil.  We never hear it out loud, but we all know what they want:  Boyd dead.

Naturally, Raylan pays a visit to Boyd to see if he knows where the fugitives are hiding.  Raylan reminds Boyd that he can keep better tabs on Dicky if he is in prison.  Anyways, in the end Raylan captures Dicky, who survived with some help from Mr. Limehouse.  He then learns that the good doctor has Dewey.  The doctor is about to take out Dewey's kidney...

Favorite part of the episode?  Raylan hitting the prison guard with his car, and then seeing him get up and deciding to back into him.  Best way to avoid using a gun.  Also, telling him that his spleen could rupture was also pretty good.

The episode ends with Devil and Johnny confronting Boyd.  We all knew that Boyd would see it coming and that Johnny would not betray Boyd, but what made this great:  Boyd does not offer a choice or say a whole, he just shoots Devil and then asks him if he wants him to take the pain away.  He then puts the gun to his head, we hear Devil whimper and as the screen goes black, we hear the gunshot.

So, that sets up a few things for next week.  Dewey doing Deweyesque things, like robbing strip clubs or something.  He needs money, I think for his kidney.  Boyd versus Quarles.  Limehouse continuing to be a badass.  And Raylan in the center of it all.  I mean, if not for him, so much of this shit would not be happening.  Pretty crazy when you think about it.

And thanks to Warming Glow for this:

Game of Thrones Season Two Preview

Okay, I know I just posted something about Game of Thrones, but then I saw the preview for season two (not the teaser or making of video) and had to post it.  Just deal with it.  I make the rules around here.

Season 2: Preview - You Win or You Die

Game of Thrones Banners

I saw these and just had to make them my desktop background (I would love to have a few of these as shirts).  After the jump you can see all of them.

10,000 Hours Later

During this week's episode of Alcatraz, Sam Neill's character mentions to Dr. Soto (Hurley) that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert on something.  This is not the first time I have heard this statement.  Is it true?  Where did it come from?  Is this another one of those "humans only use 10% of their brain's" myths?

Anyways, I decided to do some research type "10,000 hour rule" into Google.  Apparently the idea comes from some psychologist (naturally he is Swedish, and this where you ask yourself "what does Josh have against the Swedes?") and I am guessing that if you read his original work on the matter, he is very specific and probably even says what I am about to say...but, who cares about that, this seems like something that I should mock.

The reason that it is a popular idea is because of Malcolm Gladwell's book Outliers, where he talks about people who have become super great because of putting the time and effort into their field.  He uses Bill Gates as an example.  That one makes sense to me.  The one that does not make sense is The Beatles.  I honestly do not believe it was the fact that they practiced for over 10,000 hours in Germany is what made them huge music stars.

Look, hard work is a huge part of success.  And the idea that if you put 10,000 hours of working in your own field, you will become an expert at it is probably true (especially if you break it down to something simple):  for example, if you are a barista (spell-check says this is not a word) at a coffee shop and you work there long enough to achieve the 10,000 hours (at 40 hours a week, at 50 weeks per year it would take 5 years), then you will most likely have mastered the art of making a soy latte. 

Does this apply to everything in life though?  I want to become a master in the field of bench-pressing a car.  I will spend 10,000 hours trying to lift a car and at the end of all that hard work, still will not be able to lift a fucking car!  Hell, I could go about it two different ways:  I could go to a gym and work out everyday, just doing different bench-press exercises.  And at the end of the time, I could still not bench 2000 pounds.  Or what if I lay underneath my car everyday for 8 hours, pushing as hard as I can on my car...will it ever actually move?  Absolutely not.  I do not recommend trying this.

I have decided that I am going to practice for 10,000 years on trying to win the slam-dunk contest...well, I think you get the point.

Okay, maybe physical things do not actually work.  What about the piano?  I bet I could be pretty damn good at playing the piano if I practiced for 10,000 hours.  Yeah, I could play the piano, but could I actually compose a great piece of music?  Doubtful.

So these are the things that Alcatraz causes me to spend time thinking about?  Definitely a keeper...

Hey, TV Shows are Back!

Now that the holidays are over and our lives are finally back to normal, television shows can resume (or premiere...or start a new season, whatever).  I will now tell you about everything I watched this week.

Alcatraz
It has Hurley and Sam Neill.  Obviously I am going to check it out.  After the premiere, I can only say that I will need a few more episodes before I decide if I like it or not.  I mean, the story is pretty interesting, but will it take forever to receive answers?

Basically, all the inmates from Alcatraz disappeared (it was all covered up) and now they are starting to return.  Neill's character (Hauser) is now hunting the convicts as they return, along with a hot cop and Hurley.  It seems that Hauser's assistant was a doctor back then who did experiments on the prisoners and has not aged since...hmm.  Very weird.

There are some silly things though.  I mean, Rebecca Madsen (played by Sarah Jones, who was Polly Zobelle on Sons of Anarchy and the pregnant fugitive on Justified and is smoking hot) dresses in super-tight pants (I am not complaining), but would a cop really want to wear pants like that while working?  Especially when she constantly ends up chasing people? 

Second, Hurley (I will not even bother looking up his character's name) has a PhD in criminal justice and is some kind of expert on Alcatraz.  For some reason he is perfect to work as Madsen's partner.  Even though Hauser seems to have spent his entire life studying and preparing for the moment these guys start returning.

Being Human
Seriously, why do I watch this show?  I might have to stop.  What happened?  Who honestly cares.  Hell, that show that came on after it was actually better (Lost Girl).

Justified
Now this is an awesome show.  Everything was pretty much perfect.  Without going into too much detail, let me tell you about the awesome stuff:
-Raylan pulling the table cloth on Fletcher Nix (who is an awesome villain and better be back at some point).  I knew Raylan would come up with something, but I did not imagine it would be that simple and then still shoot him in the arm. 
-Boyd fighting Raylan in the U.S. Marshalls office, which seemed a little odd at first, but then you realize that Boyd is now locked up with Dicky Bennett.  I love when Boyd has a plan (he always has a plan).
-Ava hitting a dude with a frying pan.  Seriously, the funniest thing I have seen in like a month.

White Collar
Neil and Peter save Elizabeth and catch the bad guy.  The big thing that happened though was that Neil had to decide whether he wanted to stay in NYC or run away with the treasure.  Obviously, he chose staying in the city and continuing his job with Peter.

The thing that interested me though, was where did Neil learn to shoot like that?  Is there anything he is actually bad at?

Royal Pains
This is one that Lindsey and I enjoy watching together.  It is basically like House, but a tad more upbeat.  The season picks up where we ended last time, with Hank's patient accidentally receiving the wrong medication from Divya (who was also working at the hospital without telling Hank).

Evan finally receives the General's permission to marry his daughter, but then has it taken away when Evan stands up to him.  Naturally by the end things were pretty much resolved.  Also, Divya tells Hank that she gave the patient the wrong meds, which will probably cause Hank to not trust her. 

Also, I am tired of the whole Jill/Hank story.  Get her to Uruguay already.  I think Hank should just go on a rampage banging his patients.  It seems like all of them end up being attractive women, who flirt with him.

Person of Interest
I expected a little more from this show.  I hope next season they shift gears a little bit and focus more on the machine.  I am more interested in watching Reese investigate Harold than each week's victim (which ends up being about the same as an episode of Human Target).

Archer
Burt Reynolds and Archer together, yeah it was pretty much as awesome as expected.  There were so many funny parts, but my absolute favorite was the elevator joke.  A super-slow elevator and then a discussion about putting in a bat-pole.  

Community Season 2

As some of you know (those of you that read this post), I am a fan of Community, but I am about a year behind.  I missed season one, so I got it for Christmas and well, you get the point.  Anyways, I finished season two the other day and I must say that it was also pretty damn awesome.  Fortunately, I was smart enough to DVR season three, so I can start watching ASAP.

The great thing about the show, I said this before, but I will say it again:  it can be many things all at once.  It can be hilarious, with traditional jokes, slapstick style humor, or insane situations.  It can also be pretty emotional when it wants to.  Here are some of my favorite moments:

-Abed delivering a baby in the background and then referencing it during Shirley's delivery.
-The two-part paintball episode.  So much awesome stuff in that one.  Especially since Sawyer showed up as a badass paintball mercenary.
-The zombie plague and how it ended up with Chang sleeping with Shirley.
-The trampoline.  That was such a silly thing, yet it really helped cement the idea of Pierce as the villain for the rest of the season.  It seemed to me that this was the moment that we saw being excluded truly bothered him.
-The number of moments where we thought maybe Jeff and Annie might get together, but then it gets made fun of during the fake flashback episode.
-Troy's 21st birthday, which ended up with Britta and Jeff realizing that they both were talking about the same bar.  Troy never orders a drink and ends up driving everyone home.
-Abed and Annie kissing, while Abed is in his Han Solo role.
-The Christmas special, which was kind of sad and yet very funny.
-The Valentine's Day episode was pretty awesome.  Starting with the fight about the Barenaked Ladies, Troy and Abed going for the same girl (but instead of doing the typical sitcom thing, they do not compete over her), Britta trying to teach Annie about being homophobic (although, the lesbian turned out to be straight, who thought Britta was a lesbian), Pierce's drug addiction, and Jeff eventually sending the group a very sweet text.  Pretty awesome.

There were more moments, but I cannot think of anything else.  I bet we can all agree though that Alison Brie is still hot...

Funny Football Videos

My brother sent me this on facebook, and I know it is pretty much everywhere, but I will still share it with you.



Also, I got this one from Rumbunter, which is also pretty funny.

HAHAHAHAHA...Aliens

I love these...