Who am I? Why am I here?

Oh, that’s right. I’ve got myself a blog here. I should write something once in a while. In my meager defense, I’ve had problems with Computron #1 over the past couple weeks (now resolved), and I’ve been trying to wrap up my latest High Hat piece, which I finally have. But mostly, I’ve been lazy and neglectful of my little slice of the blogosphere.

So let’s see – I haven’t caught any of the exciting new fall TV programmes. Have they all been cancelled yet? I have been keeping up with two perennial favorites, with varying degrees of interest. There’s Survivor, of course, which has probably outlived its usefulness, but what the hell. It’s comfort TV now – still a good excuse to get together with friends (especially back-to-back with The Apprentice), but not something that requires 100% of my attention while it’s on. I know all the conflicts by heart now and even the twists are tired, although I’m still impressed by Mark Burnett’s knack for finding and casting the most strategically inept people on the planet. This year, we’ve got the alliance of old fat guys, a brilliant bunch who started playing the post-merge game on day one, eliminating anyone who could possibly help them win a challenge. Burnett must have been tearing his hair out as both male and female tribes set about eliminating all the eye-candy first.

Then there’s The Wire, now in its third season, about which I have a few qualms. Not huge complaints, mind you. But qualms. The show is known (to the extent that it’s known at all) for its dense, intricate storytelling and bazillions of characters, and that’s all still intact. But so far I’m not finding the new characters as colorful or compelling as the waterfront crew from last year. Cutty from the Cut strikes me as a knockoff of Tony Blundetto from The Sopranos, though the oily city councilman has promise. Meanwhile, Omar is in danger of becoming this show’s Fonzie, complete with recurring catchphrases. On the plus side, a subplot dealing with one cop’s efforts to legalize drug dealing is picking up steam, and the third episode had one of my favorite Wire scenes ever, an Irish cop’s wake scored to the Pogues’ “Body of an American.” Anyway, I think enough groundwork has been laid this season and I’m hopeful things will start popping soon.

Hell is Yankee Stadium

I missed the final debate last night, yet managed to replicate the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach it probably would have given me. Instead, I stuck with the rapidly unraveling nightmare that is the American League Championship Series. I still have the sound of 55,000 yahoos chanting “Who’s your daddy?” echoing in my skull. I don’t want to dwell on it, especially since The Sports Guy and the Surviving Grady blog do it better than I could anyway. What a drag.

Okay, more to come later, include a review of the new Tom Waits album, some thoughts on I Heart Huckabees, and…I dunno, other stuff maybe.