Heroes

I’m not sure where I stand on these epic two hour season premieres. Lost does them too and I guess i’m grateful for the extra episode, but it would be nice if they actually took advantage of the extra time and made one really big episode with its own story arcs instead of squishing two normal episodes together. Anyway, I thought it was pretty good. The new bad guys they added (Hiro’s speedster and level 5’s baddies) are just what we needed for a chapter named Villains, and i have a feeling they won’t be the only baddies this season. Nikki seems to have split once again and i think every alter ego has a different power as seen by her Sub-Zero’esque fatality. Suresh’s super powers in a needle thing was pretty cool, but it seems like they just gave him spiderman’s powers. Then we find out later that he might be turning into a real spider! Is his formula the way Ando got powers? Also, how did Ando kill Hiro when Hiro could just stop time before he got Hadukened? I want to see what Micah and his cousin are up to and am wondering where this whole Parkman in Africa thing is going. The writers have stated that they learned from their season two mistakes and will keep up the pace we all loved from the first season so i’m eagerly awaiting the next episode. One thing I really didn’t like is that the whole messenger from the dystopian future going back in time to save the world is getting kind of old.

The Office

The Office premier was pretty good too. Not outstanding, but plenty of laugh out loud moments. When Holly finds out Kevin isn’t retarded, i couldn’t stop laughing. I only wish Dwight was there to see one of his pranks actually work. Speaking of Dwight, i’m surprised Phyllis didn’t sue him for “dropping her off” five miles from the office. The whole Dwight/Angela thing is getting pretty interesting. I wonder where this will go and if the whole secret relationship thing will last all season. I love how Phyllis caught them and used the opportunity to take the lead of the party planning committee. For some reason, the party planning committee scenes are always hilarious. Pam going to college is a nice change and it’s good to see her actually doing it after talking about it so long. The interview of her on the laptop sitting in the chair was so cute. Also, who saw Ryan coming back to be the new receptionist? While completely unrealistic, it definitely has potential for some laughs and i love how Micheal still idolizes him. Like Larry on Curb Your Enthusiasm, Micheal is best during the many uncomfortable, cringe-inducing scenes he always puts himself in.  I was almost disappointed when it didn’t seem like their was going to be a scene like that in the premiere (the fat suit meeting was surprisingly tame), but when Micheal bought those concert tickets and tore them up, he had me in stitches.  

Check back soon for pt.2 where i’ll discuss Entourage and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

You burst onto the scene over two weeks ago out of relative obscurity, and you’ve been cloaked in mystery since then. Your convention speech stirred up raw conservative emotions and let the base know that McCain had not forgotten about them. Journalists (I use that term loosely these days) scrambled to get the first interview with you, and you chose the hard hitting giant pussy Charlie Gibson. I can understand why you chose him of course. After watching Gibson and George Stephanopoulos moderate one of the worst debates in recent memory a few months ago, you figured you would have an easy interview, and for the most part, you did.

Watch the interview here.

However, Governor Palin, you are not running for governor of Alaska, or mayor of Wasilla anymore. You are seeking this country’s second highest office and your knowledge of all things in this world seemed like you would barely qualify to sit on a local school board. When asked very calmly her opinion on the Bush Doctrine, Palin froze like the embryos used in stem-cell research. She asked Gibson “in what respect, Charlie?” When pressed again for an answer, Palin asked for clarification and said “his [Bush's] world view?”

While that may rank as your most embarrassing moment of the interview, it certainly was not the only thing that made me America question your credibility. When asked if you had ever met a foreign head of state, you defended the fact that you hadn’t by claiming many vice-presidents probably had not met a foreign head of state before taking office. Fail. Over the last 30 years, every single vice-presidential nominee on both sides of the aisle had met a foreign head of state before taking office.

Palin’s interview wasn’t all substance of course; there was some fun, light moments as well. Did you know, for instance, that from Alaskan land, you can look and see Russian land? In fact, I did know that, but I did not know that qualified you as an expert on Russian and U.S. relations.

So Governor Palin, I ask you, on behalf of a country that deserves better, on behalf of a country which can not afford for a person like you to ascend to such an office, on behalf of a country which has a self-destructive fascination with seeing ordinary folks reach extraordinary heights, on behalf of a country in desperate need of repair, please drop out now. Your family needs you more than my family does.

natalie portman’s shaved head - sophisticated side ponytail from thatgo on Vimeo.

“That spirit of looking out for one another, that core value that says I am my brothers’ keeper, I am my sister’s keeper, that spirit is most evident during times of great tragedy, it’s most evident during times of great hardship, it’s most evident when natural disasters strike because we understand that only God has control and so it takes it out of the realm of politics. We all understand that we have to come together.

But that spirit can’t just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there’s some folks that are going through their own quiet storms.

[…]

There’re people out there who’ve seen their jobs shipped overseas. There’re people out there who don’t have healthcare, maybe they’ve been trying to pay it on a credit card but mostly they’ve just been putting off trying to see a doctor. There’re seniors out there that don’t know how they’re going to pay their home heating bill this winter. There are folks out there that don’t know how they’re going to fill up the gas tank. There are young people in this audience right now that have graduated from high school, have the grades and want to go to college, but don’t have the money. There are young people being born in the inner cities, right here in Milwaukee, that don’t see any prospects for the future that think the only path available to them is a casket or a jail cell.

All across America there are quiet storms taking place. There are lives of quiet desperation. People who need just a little bit of help. Now, Americans are a self-reliant people, we’re an independent people. We don’t like asking somebody else to do what we can do ourselves but you know what we understand is that every once in a while somebody’s going to get knocked down. Every once in a while somebody’s going to go through some hard times. When we least expect it tragedy may strike. And what has always made this country great is the understanding that we rise and fall as one nation, that values and family, community and neighborhood, they have to express themselves in our government. Those are national values. Those are values that we all subscribe to. And so that the spirit that we extend today and in the days to come as we monitor what happens on the Gulf that’s the spirit that we’ve got to carry with us each and every day. That’s the spirit that we need in our own homes and it’s the spirit that we need in the White House. And that’s why I’m running for president of the United States of America.

Because if there’s a poor child out there, that’s my child. If there’s a senior that’s having trouble, that’s my grandparent. If there’s a guy who’s lost his job, that’s my brother. If there’s a woman out there without healthcare, that’s my sister. Those are the values that built this country. Those are the values we are fighting for.”

It’s too bad they guy is a little crazy because if there’s one guy who embodies the progressive platform the democrats are moving towards its Dennis.  He was against the Patriot Act and the Iraq War before it was cool.

The Governer of Montana, Brian Schweitzer also gave a great speech.  Pro-gun rights and a civil rights libertarian, he has led the charge against the federally mandated Real ID act (Fun Fact: he speaks fluent Arabic!).  Mountain state Democrats from states like Montana and Colorado really are the future of the party.  There are a lot of people in the liberal blogosphere that are pushing him to run for President one day.  Democrats have been most succesfull with Governers from southern states (Clinton, Carter) and people have been saying how Obama is redrawing the electoral map.  While Obama is putting new states into play, the electoral map would be near unreconizable with Schweitzer.  Especially with something like a Schweitzer/Sebelius ticket, pracically every state west of the Mississippi would be blue.  I’d like to see republicans try to call this guy elitist.

BTW, everyone from Nancy Pelosi to Michelle Obama were excellent last night.  I’m really looking forward to Hillary’s speech tonight - should be pretty interesting.

Oh yea, I just wanted to mention that I totally voted today and you should too.

The amazing TV show West Wing has popped up on my radar twice in the last couple days.  The first time was this hilarious story in the Onion detailing SorCon, the largest Aaron Sorkin convention in the world.  The second was this interesting post comparing Obama’s choice of Biden with Santos’ pick of Leo.  I was surprised to hear that Santos was actually based on Obama!  Pretty neat.