Summers shows on the way

Sometime in the next few weeks, the summer shows will start premiering their new episodes, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the new seasons of Burn Notice and Psych. If you haven't watched Burn Notice, go check out episodes online, it's a great show in the style of Magnum P.I.

While I wait, though, I'm starting to watch a couple of shows that I've never seen before. Usually it's something that was on during a time period that one of my other shows was on, so I never looked into it. One of these shows is Rules of Engagement.



First off, I didn't want to watch it because it had David Spade. That guy is creepy, and not in a funny way. More like a creepy way. He used to be funny, back when Chris Farley was still alive, but now he's just creepy. And sad. And he seems to be looking for that one sitcom that'll bring him back on top.

This show isn't it. While it does have it's moments, I've never seen a show about relationships that has less chemistry. David Spade doesn't fit in the dynamic. Oliver Hudson, who plays Adam, is a block of wood. His fiance on the show, Jennifer (played by the gorgeous Bianca Kajlich, who had a guest role on the before mentioned Psych), I have no idea why she's even ON the show, except as eye-candy. Megyn Price is okay, but I've always liked her in whatever she's done.

That leaves the saving grace of the show, and the only reason...THE ONLY REASON...I watch this show. It's because of this man...


You might know him as "Puddy" from Seinfeld. I know him as "The Tick" from the greatness that was that short-lived Fox show. It is Patrick Warburton. And he is pure comedy greatness.

I actually got to meet him one year at South by Southwest. He was a nice, unassuming guy who was there showing his first staring role movie. It was awful, but during the Q&A after the movie, he revealed that he'd be doing "The Tick". Years later, and he's starring in this pile of doo-doo, but he's making it work. Alone. With his own comedy chops. By himself.

I wouldn't recommend watching this show, except for the fact that he is so damned funny. And it's like he isn't even trying. He's much more of a person in this show than I've ever seen him in anything else, and when he and his TV wife Audrey go at it, it's great. It's the only time I laugh when I'm watching the show, and I fast forward through all the other crap just to get to him.

There, that's my two cents about Rules of Engagement. Check it out if you've got nothing better to do, otherwise, just watch the Patrick Warburton moments on CBS.com or YouTube.

MY NEW SEMI-FAMOUS CRUSH

As anyone who knows me knows...wait, does that makes sense?

Anyway, I get random crushes on semi-famous people. The last one was Dallas Observer writer Andrea Grimes, who I feel in love with her words, then fell more in love when I saw her picture.

Now that Andrea has booked it to Austin, I feel like I need a new semi-famous crush. And now I have it.

Here she is...Olivia Munn from G4's "Attack of the Show"!!!!



I've been watching AOTS for a few days, now that I don't have a regular job, and I have been bewitched by this young lady. I was even more bewitched when I saw this pic...



Now, I hate George Lucas, but he did introduce us to the Gold Bikini Outfit, and Olivia does wonders for it.

Not only is she gorgeous, she's pretty funny and cool as well. I'm currently watching AOTS, and she and the other host Kevin are trying to say things to mess up the Closed Captioning typers, so she just said, "I'm going to squeeze liquid out of my vagina!" That's pretty awesome.

Evidently she's dating some actor, but I like to think that's because she hasn't met me yet. Give it time, I'm patient.

Anyway, here is my new semi-famous crush...OLIVIA MUNN!!!

Mac Tip: VMware to help ease the XP conversion pain

If you just bought your first Mac and you cannot stand booting into Boot Camp to use XP or Vista, try VMWare Fusion. It lists at $80 (but can be found for cheaper at Amazon.com for now) and can run your Windows while you are running OS X. It is fast, simple, and seamless.

You need to go to www.vmware.com, go to the Products Tab, then Products Index, then scroll down to VMWare Fusion, download and install it, and then follow the steps to install your paid copy of XP or Vista within the player. Fusion is a virtual machine that tricks Windows into thinking it is on its computer system.

Why do you need it? It allows you slowly release Windows grip from your psyche. You can reinstall all of your Win apps on it and use them for a bit...or forever...and buy Mac versions someday. It is more secure because it "sand boxes" Windows and disables viruses or malware to jump from the virtual machine to the OS X.

Among other settings, you get to set how much hard drive space you want it to have, how much RAM it will allocate for Windows, and also if you want to share the OS X hard drive. I recommend a full 20 gigs for your Windows install within VMWare. For the RAM it depends on how much RAM you have on your Mac. For 2 gigs of RAM on your Mac then use 1 gig for VMWare and if you have 4 gigs of RAM on your Mac then use 2 gigs for VMWare. While VMWare is open and running, it will allocate the RAM entirely which gives you less to use for Mac applications. I recommend read-only setting for sharing with the OS X hard drive. You don't want this version of Windows writing to your Mac. If you enable read/write, then a virus or malware could potentially infect files outside of VMWare.

Hope this helps and makes sense. Comment or email if you need help.

Really? No kidding?

What the hell? It may be hard to see but his head is pasted over Uncle Sam's (click to enlarge). Wow. Ballsy.

Jawbone Review

Image care of blog.treonauts.com

About 6 months ago I scrapped my Jabra BT200 bluetooth headset because of poor call quality, poor battery life, and frustration related to the connection process each time I cranked up bluetooth on my phone. I had the Jabra for almost 2 years and considered it extremely comfortable and easy to use. It was fairly unassuming in a world of people who seem to love to flaunt their bluetooth headset and their inability to TAKE IT OUT OF THEIR EAR AND PUT IT IN THEIR POCKET. sorry. I thought handsfree was for driving or multi-tasking...not walking in the mall or eating at a restaurant.

I did some web searching for quality reviews of headsets and stumbled upon the following: http://blog.treonauts.com/2007/03/treo_bluetooth_.html review of the jawbone. First I must state that the Jawbone is made by Aliph at http://www.jawbone.com/. The makers have gone to great lengths to create a headset that is easy to use, stylish, and one of the best noise reduction bluetooth units on te market. I will first send you to this video so that you fully understand what I am raving about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-VIdnrij7M. I have tested this unit with a vacuum cleaner on, right beside me and the headset is so successful in cancelling noise and improving the sound of your voice that my mother could hear me clearly and I could barely hear her over the vacuum cleaner.

I realize I am not doing a good job at reviewing this headset, however I think the attached links speak for themselves. Personally, with the included ear accessories, the unit is very comfortable. The wrap around piece is poorly made and breaks easy. Both my father and my ear pieces broke through light use. I will note that typically I can wear the headset with few issues. I cannot swing my head side to side or up/down without the ear hook thing but typically does well in driving and walking conditions. Aliph has come out with a new model which is smaller than the unit I purchased. The units use very low profile, hidden buttons to turn the unit on/pair/mute/volume/noise cancelling. The charger is USB or plugs into a wall jack and is lightweight and easy to take on trips with you. It charges quickly and holds a charge for adequate talk/standby time. See Andrew's Treonaut review for more details.

I strongly recommend you look into this product if you are in the market for a bluetooth headset. Don't forget you can get it almost half off on eBay. For weight, looks, and funtionality (and the fact that my dad can use it successfully), the headset is a great buy.

Leo and the TWiT Army!

I need to formally endorse Leo Laporte here on the blog.  For those who don't know him, he has been in TV, radio, and print for years in the world of tech.  He currently has two websites...www.leoville.com and www.twit.tv.  Leoville is much more tuned to his lower tech listeners and twit.tv is his netcast/netcast network.  

He once worked for ZDTV, soon to be TechTV where I came across him on the Screen Savers.  TechTV fell apart unfortunately after being bought by G4.  I actually wished I could work for TechTV and too bad I wasn't ambitious enough.  Currently TWiT is working to revive the old TechTV mantra.  Between Revision3.com and TWiT.tv, we will get there soon enough.  The two sites consist of a great collection of geeks, dorks, nerds, hackers, and cool folks put a plethera of outstanding and crappy video and audio netcasts/vidcasts.

Also go to Leoville.com and check out Leo's cool live stream when he is doing a show.  He has just built up a new studio, just as Revision3 did recently, and is prepping to go a bit more professional.  This is going to be the new media soon, and I hope Leo and the TWiT army reap the benefits.  

Sorry...have to go.  Will add more later.

Tuckers? It really should be called Suckers

To be honest, I really thought this place was going to be great.

When TK's brother got married, the spread they had there was great. When he mentioned that we were going to the restaurant section of where his brother had his wedding, after a smart-assed comment, I thought, Holy crap, the food is expensive, but it's going to be really good. I still have foodie dreams about their portabella pastries.

I checked on the internet, and it looked like this place was going to be a typical, high-end Dallas foodie place, with really complex but wonderful dishes. I got there late, and sampled a bit of the wine ($23 a bottle, REALLY?) and convinced TK that we should get a goat-cheese with roasted pine nuts appetizer.

I should have known we were in trouble when it came out. It wasn't that good, and TK and I were the only people at the table that were eating it. I decided to forgo the quail and go for something easier, which was the Kobe Beef Hamburger (at $16 a pop, I thought, what the hell? It'll be good, it's Kobe beef, and it's cheaper than some hamburgers that I've gotten at Twisted Root).

When I finally got my burger, it was raw in the middle. And I don't mean raw like it was undercooked. I mean raw like steak tartar raw. I tried to power through it, but I'm a man who likes his meat cooked, usually overdone rather than under. I got halfway through, and had to give up.

A little note about myself. I don't EVER send food back. I don't care how nice the place is, I've had friends who worked in restaurants, I've seen Waiting, and I read Waiter Rant. I DON'T EVER SEND FOOD BACK. I might bitch and complain, but I'll never send the food back, only to have it come back to me, out of my sight for a few minutes. They could have stink-palmed it, for all I know.

If the food was a problem, that would be one thing. But the service was awful too. At one point, our waiter walked over to where we were, waiting for him to bring us the check, looked at us, saw that we were done with no plates and empty water glasses, and walked away. Without asking if we needed anything. In a place that's $35 a plate, that's unacceptable. Yes, I still tipped over 15%. Why? Because I'm retarded and I feel bad for waiters. Why? I have no idea. They make way more money than I do.

All in all, I won't be going back to Tuckers anytime soon. I'd rather go to Snuffers, which sounds the same, but has excellent food. Their marinated chicken strips are the best ever, and they have the best...THE BEST...cheese fries in the world. Try them out.

I think everyone else at the table had a good meal, but I spent the rest of the night with stomach aches, not able to sleep, and got to watch my entire meal in reverse the next morning. It's safe to say, Tuckers is not on my top ten lists. Now, I wish I had argued more for Sushi Zushi.

Poof Drops?

For those who need to cover up the stink while on the pooper...check out poof drops. I am not sure if this is real, but they definitely should hook up with the "beano" folks and sells these in a two pack. Crazy stuff. What the heck is Japanese Mint anyways?

JUNO: Movie Review

Last week I saw Juno for the second time. The first encounter with the movie was not an enjoyable experience. I think I was not in the mood for a drama/dark comedy and it hit me in the face fairly hard. I really have to be prepared for a movie to truly enjoy it. Sometimes if a movie is made so well then no matter what I am expecting, I will appreciate it's artistic qualities. With that said, this is a entertaining movie. I won't get into all of the details, but will hit on the high points.

The music was effectively selected for this flick because all of the characters are not run of the mill Hollywood written types. Nor are they cast by terribly pretty people...except Jennifer Garner. She is an attractive woman. The music is off center, and float well behind the surface of the scene they are placed in. They don't drive the scenes but compliment the storyline. The Moldy Peaches have a few songs throughout this movie. I will be honest - I am not a fan of them. Sometimes deviation from mainstream media is just that - deviation. I am not a supporter that all expression is art.

The cast of characters are fantastic overall. From Jason Bateman to Michael Cera to Ellen Page to Allison Janney. They all perform well in their roles and give you a true sense you are living beside them and around them. Ellen Page's character is a tough sell given that she is so young and so mature. I have met so many kids that consider themselves mature, but never come across this well. I have a hard time believing any kid could react to being pregnant as she does. I realize movies require suspension of disbelief, but this one was a bit tougher to swallow than most.

Still, much funnier and impressive the second time around. I knew the characters more the second round and appreciated the relationships and interactions that occured throughout the film. Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman did a great job delivering a story and film that deserves the positive response they have received so far.

Once you go Mac, you never go back

I have gone and done the inevitable. I purchased an iMac. I have to admit, when they went to the Intel chip and I realized for any legacy Windows needs I could just dual boot, I was sold. My old Dell was about 6 years old and after the final reformat and install, it was not coming back to life. Windows and all of the software I chose to install on it just couldn't cut it on the 1.6 GHz Pentium 4. Mind you, that was the first foray into the Pentium world, so to say that I am an early adopter is a bit of a misnomer. I used to build my own systems but went to a Dell for an assumed level of compatibility and less hardware conflicts.

First Time Mac Owner
I chose to purchase a refurbished iMac from the Apple Store because I did not need a new model, nor did I need to upgrade any of the components just yet. I presume I will go and get some additional RAM in the future, but not yet. I purchased the 24" LCD, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme. Another first in my computer purchasing history is that I have never purchased the best computer on the market (in its class). I typically figure that I don't need the fastest and greatest computer, but this round I chose otherwise. I wanted the 24" screen, which is a fantastic display, and the additional computing power to last me a bit longer before it becomes obsolete. I also purchased a refurbished AirPort Extreme router/print/data server. Figured it would link up easily with the iMac and allow my external hard drive and printer to be used by everyone in the house.

For those who don't know about the refurbished section of the Apple Store, go to www.apple.com/store and look down to the bottom left of the page. There is also links to purchase as a government employee or student. You can receive up to 10% off all products through this route.

The computer came yesterday in a non-descript cardboard package, weighing in at around 30 lbs or so. Easy to lift, easy to unpack. The iMac is an all-in-one, literally. It only has a power cord, a keyboard, and a mouse. They give you a manual and some disks, but they take up minimal space in the box. I plugged it all together, turned it on, and was off. There were a few settings regarding where you are in the world and what language you speak, and then Apple takes you into a fantastic welcome video. It is an animation through space and says "welcome" in probably 20+ languages. It was fantastic. A sight for the eyes. Apple exceeds in making me as a user feel like part of a community. I must disclose that I have three iPods (3G 15 Gig, 5G 30 Gig, and a 1G 1Gig Shuffle) and my wife has a Mini and a Shuffle as well. They are works of electronic art.

One important note when starting to use a Mac compared to Windows. Macs are Unix based and does a much better job of allowing users to run as non-Admins. Set up your Mac and install all of your desired programs as Admin (the mode that you start as), and then go to User Accounts and add yourself and family members without Admin rights. This will help minimize malware and viruses gaining full access to your computer as easily.

I first installed the software that came with the AirPort Extreme and used it to wirelessly connect to the internet. Very simple indeed. You just go into Applications, Utilities, AirPort Utility and run through the settings. For those who are not so network savvy - MAKE SURE YOU SET UP SECURITY ON YOUR ROUTER. Too many people fail to do this and think it is too complicated. It is not complicated at all. Just follow the steps in your router's manual. My iMac was now securely connected to the internet via the AirPort Extreme, and on came the updates. It took about 3 hours to download all of the updates for the preinstalled software. No worries there. Part of installing or using a new OS. During the update, I went and immediately downloaded Firefox at www.firefox.com. This browser is more secure than Safari and allows for really cool add-ins. I then googled top 10 Mac apps and found the following webistes:
http://paulstamatiou.com/2005/12/19/10-apps-every-new-mac-user-should-download
http://lifehacker.com/software/mac-os-x/keiths-top-10-mac-applications-124876.php
http://gigaom.com/2005/09/03/10macapps/
Out of these sites I recommend most Adium. It is a sleek instant messenger tool that can load your accounts from pretty much any chat software. I don't think it integrates into iChat but that is no biggie. I also recommend BitTorrent and OpenOffice. OpenOffice is a great, and free, open source alternative to Microsoft Office.

Installing software is a bit unusual....at least for a PC user. You download the software as a dmg file. You download the file, run it, and then it pops up this odd graphic. You take the icon within the graphic, and drop it into your Applications folder. From there you can drag it onto your Dashboard, the useful "start menu" replacement. I guess it is more of a Quick Launch toolbar for windows users, but much more aesthetic.

I will post more details as times goes on and I come across good websites or tricks for new Mac users.