Have You Seen the Remote?

Hey you! Yeah you! The person reading this right now!

Have you been watching It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia? If not, I have one question for you – What’s wrong with you? It might very well be the best show on television right now. It really has nothing to do with anything, but I just felt like making a general statement.

Every fall we are blessed with a treasure-trove of new television programming. Some shows fail miserably and some exceed all expectations. So what happened this year? Comedy is running the show. I’m not going to pretend to know all of the new shows that came out. I know ABC has a few that I never watch and CBS… well… who the fuck watches CBS? Not me. If you want to find good comedy, go with my big three – NBC, FX and HBO.

“Hey D, what makes these channels so awesome?” Oh my god. I’m so glad you asked!

FX – Aside from Always Sunny, as I already mentioned is amazing. FX brought in a new show two weeks ago called The League. It’s conveniently on right after Always Sunny, so really there is no excuse to miss it. Only two episodes in and the show already has me rolling on the floor, busting out the LOL’s. The stand out on the show is Jon Lajoie who you may know as the “Show me your genitals” guy. Those unfamiliar with him, should check out his Youtube page – you won’t be sorry. In December, FX is also adding an animated show called Archer to the mix, which is done by the same guys that brought us Frisky Dingo. The show also features several great voice actors including the always lovable H. John Benjamin.

HBO – Curb Your Enthusiasm. In all honesty that’s all HBO needs. Who doesn’t love Larry David? Of course there’s also Bored to Death, which is equally as funny. If you haven’t checked this show out yet, be sure to. It starts Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson, who by the way is a guy I’m falling in love with, because of his roles on these two shows. I don’t really have much more to say about either of these shows, because I think they speak for themselves.

NBC – Let’s see – 30 Rock, The Office, Parks & Rec and Community. They’re all great shows. I’ll admit I wasn’t a huge fan of Parks & Rec in its first season, but this season has been excellent. Aziz Ansari and Louie C.K. have been awesome in their roles. On a side note, did you know Louie C.K. wrote and directed PootyTang? It’s true… and very odd. This line-up pretty much explains where I am every Thursday between 8 and 10. (Just in time for Sunny, of course).

See wasn’t that informative? I should write a book. I’ll call it, Stating the Obvious with Dnothing. It’ll top the New York Times bestseller list and I’ll make millions. What will I do with that millions? I’ll buy a big ass TV and a lot of porn. What could be better. I feel as if my blog would suffer severely though. Well, if I ever disappear for a long period of time, just assume that’s what happened.

Movieland

I saw two movies this weekend. Know what means? OPINIONS!

Zombieland – Well, it was actually as good as everyone said. I’m always a fan of zombie flicks, so I was going to like it regardless, but it really was a good film. Woody Harrelson was excellent in his role. It’s probably the best role he’s had since Natural Born Killers. Sorry if this spoils the movie for anyone, but Bill Murray makes a cameo in the movie and it is hilarious.

Couples Retreat – I’ll pretty much see any movie with Jason Bateman in it, because I’m a huge fan. In fact, if a movie comes out with Bateman and Paul Rudd, I tell you know it will be my favorite movie – ever. Anyway, Couples Retreat is actually pretty damn funny. I know it looks like a date film, but it’s really not. I mean, yes it’s a romantic comedy, but it’s funny enough to make you forget that. The little kid in the movie is also funny as shit. There are also some great cameos in the movie, so keep an eye out for those.

I just wanted to rant on something real quick too.

This past week, I had a check bounce on me and my bank charged me a fee because of it. Here is what I don’t understand – Why would my bank charge me a fee? I’m not the reason the check bounced and I already lost out on the money that was supposed to go in my account from the check. So, why the hell would the bank take more money from me, on top of what I already lost out on? If you ask me, the person who had insufficient funds should be the one who is charged the fee. He knew he didn’t have enough money, yet wrote me the check anyway. That makes a hell of a lot more sense than taking more money from the person,  who needed the check in the first place.

Anyway that’s my rant. Thanks for listening. Peace.

Better Late than Never.

I’m really late on this, but I wanted to share my opinions anyway.

Recently, Thrice released their latest effort, Beggars, on iTunes. This is not to be confused with the hard copy release in October, which will feature several bonus tracks. Admittedly, I have been listening to it for a while now, via the power of torrenting. Now at first, I wasn’t really into this album. It seemed to lack a certain energy Thrice has always been able to deliver. After a few weeks of listening, it started to grow on me, however. I began to realize what the band is trying to do. With their last few releases, the band has been trying to find themselves with a more mature, accessible sound. That isn’t to say certain elements of the music don’t have the ol’ Thrice energy, it just means they want to shoot for something more.

Tracks like Beggars, the album’s finale, show Dustin and the gang still have what it takes to deliver powerful, groove-heavy tunes. The rest of the song line-up attests to the groups desire to dip their pens into blues, jazz and folk. In fact, some songs are heavily reminiscent of Kensrue’s solo effort, Please Come Home.

All in all, the album is certainly a departure from the Illusion of Safety days. There may be a few dull moments, but it’s all part of the ambiance and charm the band is looking to bring. They don’t want you to bang your head from beginning to end, they want you to feel the music, understand the lyrics and join them on their heartfelt journey. I thought the band found their niche with Vheissu, yet their next few releases, known as the Alchemy Index, proved me wrong, showing this is a band with depth and a reach that has yet to find its boundaries.

As the band continues to explore and mix genres and find the sound they’ve always been looking for, they certainly have no problem making the ride well worth the listen. I give the album (and it’s subsequent hard copy release in October) a 4/5.