Adam & Amber’s Blog

After writing yesterday about ‘Pushing Daisies’, I realized that I could probably write more on the other shows I have started watching this Fall. It is odd, but having the MythTV box makes me record and eventually watch more TV then I usually would (probably has something to do with having 6 tuners). So here is my “Top 10″ ranking of new Fall Shows I have watched, keep in mind these are the only 10 I have watched so it isn’t so much of a “Top 10″ as an “Only 10″:

10. Dirt Sexy Money (ABC)
Overly-simplified Description: Wealthy family has problem and the new family lawyer must fix them, while trying to figure who killed his father.
It very much has the feel of a Evening Soap Opera (ala Desperate House Wives), which means it probably will do ok, just isn’t my cup of tea. After watching an episode or two the characters just got annoying and I really didn’t care about the conflicts. I tried to get Amber started on it (seemed more up her ally) but she didn’t show much interest.

9. Moonlight (CBS)
Overly-simplified Description: Modern day Vampire Private Eye solves cases with young beautiful reporter.
I actually wanted to give this show a chance (I guess I figured TV really needed a vampire on it), but the acting is not great and the entire mood of the show doesn’t feel dark enough to fit the plot. That being said, it doesn’t take mush to be a Friday night hit, so maybe the show will stick around long enough to find itself.

8. K-Ville (FOX)
Overly-simplified Description: Cop show based in port Katrina New Orleans.
This show is actually better then I though it would be, but it also isn’t really all that original. The fact that it takes place in New Orleans adds some to the character development and alters the crimes a little, but at the end of the day crime is crime and a cop show is a cop show. Nothing against law enforcement and doctors, but you would think there could be other professions to base TV dramas around.

7. Reaper (CW)
Overly-simplified Description: Parents sold his soul to the devil, now he must collect lost souls.
There are two reasons I watched this show at all (and broke my “No CW” rule). First, the pilot was directed by Kevin Smith, with this concept and him at the helm it seemed like it would at least be worth a shot. Second, I really liked “Dead Like Me” and was hoping that this might in some way fill that void. I do have to say, that the pilot, directed by Smith, was good. A mix of supernatural, campy, and hilarious. Since then the show seems to be turning towards more generic CW Teen show, which I am sure will do them well (it has up to this point) but unless things get less teeny, I am not sure it will hold my attention.

6. Journeyman (NBC)
Overly-simplified Description: Man comes down with a case of the “Time Travels”. Think Quantum Leap, only more time traveling and less Bakula.
Another show that was better then I initially though it would be. The concept of random time traveling seemed to me not to have the legs to span multiple episodes (more of a movie concept, involving some vast government conspiracy). That being said, the episodic nature of the show allows them to split the main story of the what/why/how of the time traveling into small hints scattered throughout the shows, while at the same time giving you an interesting single episode story to follow. It is hard to believe this show will have a long life on NBC (maybe transfer to SciFi?), but hey Quantum Leap was on forever, so who knows

5. The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
Overly-simplified Description: Geek attempts to hook-up with sexy neighbor, hilarity ensues.
It is strange to see a sitcom on TV anymore, they don’t really seem to have a place other then on CBS where they actually flourish. My initial impression of the show wasn’t that great, it seemed idiotic to base a show around a group of nerds and their hot neighbor. However, the jokes are funny and because I hang out with a sometimes geeky group, the characters are sometimes too easy to relate to. The show is good for a laugh and makes for good fluff TV.

4. Bionic Woman (NBC)
Overly-simplified Description: Woman gets implanted with bionics, and aboriginally calls herself the Bionic Woman.
The pilot ran like a movie, big explosions, special effects, fights. All of which was a bit misleading as the show has fallen into a spy show with a scifi twist (which can feel a bit familiar). I do have two gripes with the show. One, the transition from regular woman to bionic seemed rushed. It would have been fun to see her be independent for a while, discover what she can do on her own. Two, there is a sub-plot between her and her sister that feels more “After School Special” then “Primetime TV”. My guess is that it was an attempt to grab a broader audience, but it just feels awkward and contrived. All that being said, the show is still very watchable and at least worth a shot.

3. Life (NBC)
Overly-simplified Description: Cop turned inmate turned back to cop finds himself in a generic cop show.
Another cop show, with another twist. Most people would probably hold that against ‘Life’, but there is some originality here, and the characters are interesting enough to warrant watching. I imagine that down the line the originality will get lost and the show will become completely generic, but for now it is worth a few viewings.

2. Pushing Daisies (ABC)
See full review here.

1. Chuck (NBC)
Overly-simplified Description: Nerd turns spy after receiving trippy email
I think this is a genius show by NBC. You take a night that has “Heroes”, which is basically required Nerd TV, and put on a show were a Nerd gets to do something extraordinary, become a spy. It is just good psychology, give people someone to watch that is similar to them, give him a cool ability, a beautiful partner, and a life more interesting then their own, and you got yourself a hit. On top of that, the show has some quality action, good comedy, and interesting plot lines. It seems like the show will have to go through a couple of interesting plot twists to survive more then a season, but if it can survive those it could last a while.
I am not sure I have accomplished much more by writing this then proving I watch too much TV (which I do), but maybe someone out there will find something interesting to watch off this list. As a general comment, it seems like the networks are doing a better job with new shows this year. The quality seems higher then in years past, which probably has two sides. Quality generally means pricey, and that generally means a show has to be better then average to survive. It is hard to see a show like ‘Bionic Woman”, “Pushing Daisies”, or “Chuck” surviving multiple seasons without pulling in good ratings.

When I first read the pitch on Pushing Daisies I thought to myself, “what a stupid concept for a show”. The basic plot that I read then was that the show was based around a guy that for some completely unknown reason can bring people back to life by touching them, but if he touches them again they die and he cannot bring them back. However, if he doesn’t touch them again (killing them, …keep up) within 60 seconds someone else dies in their place. I am sure by this point you can understand why I would think that the concept for the show was stupid. Even writing it now I can’t imagine wanting to watch that show, and I wouldn’t have even given it a shot if it weren’t for a recommendation of a friend.

What you don’t get from the plot synopsis is that Pushing Daisies is a truly original television program. The cinematography has the feel of Big Fish or Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events (which it also shares a similar narration) and the basic plot premise is so absurd that once you buy into it (which is surprisingly easy to do) the show has the freedom to do whatever they want with you, and they do. From cast members breaking out in musical numbers to cars that run on dandelions, nothing is to far fetched and that is refreshing.

The show is basically a crime show, every episode has a death (usually a few) and the main characters go about solving why the person died. You can probably see why being able to bring people back, even only for a minute, would be useful in this line of work. The plot is made more interesting by a cross-episode story arc, that involves the main character bringing back a recently killed estranged childhood sweetheart and not being able to bring himself to put her back under. They of course fall in love, which is complicated seeing as how if he touches her again she will die. The cool thing is that with as complicated and absurd as that sounds (and trust me that is just the surface, it gets much more complicated and absurd) the fact that the show revels in both it’s complexness and absurdity makes it incredibly smart and entertaining.

I won’t say this is a show that will stay on the air forever (I can’t imagine it having a broad enough appeal to be a mutli-season hit) or that original won’t turn into hokey after 20+ episodes, but for now it is definitely a show worth watching and catching up on. I have to applaud ABC for taking a chance on a show that I am sure needed to be explained multiple times before anyone even remotely understood what it was about.

P.S. If you want to catch-up ABC has some of the episodes online, a trend shared by all the major networks. It is getting to the point you don’t even need a tv anymore because they give the shows away, with fewer commercials, online. I’m not sure the angle the networks are using with putting all their shows online, but I like it.

As I mentioned in my review of The Devil in the White City, I really only read on vacation.  So it should come as no surprise that after my return from a summer vacation visiting family I am again writing a book review.  I again read a historically placed book, although this time the book is pure fiction (which is good, because it means it can be my next book club selection, and yes I see how the fact I am in a book club and yet only read on vacation is a bit odd).  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen is a novel the combines many stories from the history of the circus, but rolls them up into one solid plot line.

The book revolves around Jacob, a second generation Polish Immigrant who is either 90 or 93 years old.  The book has two main plot lines,  the first follows the 90ish year old Jacob in an assisted living facility as he deals with getting older, loosing memory, trying not to go senile, and looking forward to attending a traveling circus.  This small part of the story is very well crafted and really made me think about what it must be like for the millions of elderly that live in assisted living facilities.  It isn’t that Gruen paints an awful picture of nursing homes, it is more about the dehumanizing of the elderly, and recognition of one selves slow march to the end.  For me, even though at this point in his life Jacob is bitter, frustrated, and generally not very nice, through his inner dialog I really became connected to him and sympathized with what it feels like to get older (regardless of how full your life has been).

It is through this 90ish year old Jacob’s dreams that the major plot line of the book is told.  It starts with Jacob studying to follow in his father’s footsteps as a veterinarian.  However, as with many people in depression era America, plans do not always go as planned.  He ends up joining a “Train Circus” and through him we are introduced to the very complicated and telling world of the depression era circus.  Complete with racism, classism, sexism, cruelness, comradery, friendship, love, and caring.  The story is gripping, not so much because the plot is exciting, but because Gruen does such a great job of getting you connected with the characters.   From the working men, to the ringleader, to the midget clown you meet and get an understanding of each of them and through them understand the complex world in which they live a little more.

Overall, I learned a great deal more about the hey day of the circus, which for me has always been a small spectacle attended by children, and being able to learn something while being entertained is always cool.  I was also so drawn in by the story that I finished the book in under 24-hours, which for me is quite a feat.  The book is definitely, at its heart, a love story, and if it were made into a movie could easily go the “chick flick” route, but it is also historically interesting enough and has enough other action that it is really a good read for anyone.

I should start by saying that I never miss a Steve Jobs Keynote. I don’t just watch the announcement live on all the blogs that are lucky enough to be in attendance, I go back and watch the video of the event after I know what he is going to say. One thing Apple is great at is building hype and I love buying into it hook, line, and sinker. I also must say that I don’t own ANY Apple products. I am writing this post from my Dell laptop, I use my Dell Axim for GPS and work scheduling, and I have a Cingular 2125 Windows Smartphone that doubles as my mp3 player. I am not sure where that puts me in the Apple vs. Microsoft battle and honestly I don’t care.

Yesterday marked another Steve Jobs keynote and another day of me watching the blogs and waiting for the video to get posted online. If you haven’t yet watched the video, I suggest you do. For one it shows off the products really well, but it also is a marketing dream, just watching the crowd reactions tells you alot about this company and its place in our culture.

For those of you who are too busy to watch the video (it is long) or browse the website, I will try to summarize the iPhone as best I can. It is an Apple smartphone (although it is more fairly in my opinion a PDA phone), it has iPod functionality (basically it can sync with iTunes and play all the iPod media), and has WiFi/Edge connectivity for internet (and internet enabled programs). There are plenty of cool features to go along with this, like a MultiTouch touch screen, improved voicemail (treats voicemail like email), SMS (treats texting like Instant Messaging), and all the Apple eye-candy you can handle.

So, as a Windows Mobile device user what are my impressions of what I have seen.

I think there is real innovation here, the MultiTouch technology allows you a great amount of flexibility in an on-screen keyboard and other UI (like using the “pinch” motion to zoom in and zoom out). I have seen this technology used before for demonstrations, but this is the first application I have seen that really takes advantage of it. Another innovation here is that someone finally realized that voicemail doesn’t have to be an answering machine, it can be an inbox. The Cingular site says this is a first in the US, so I am guessing that other countries have already seen this. Jobs really hyped up the web browsing aspect of being able to load full html web pages as a great innovation. I have used 3rd party browsers on my PDA that work in much the same way and I have to say that for me the novelty wore off quickly. Maybe Apple is going to do it better (I know the multi session aspect of web browsing looked much better then anything I have seen before).

There are some other things from the presentation that I found interesting. Jobs compared the iPhone to the current most popular smartphones (Blackjack, Q, Pearl, etc), all with keyboards, smaller screens, etc. I don’t deny these are the most popular smartphone devices, but there are a few devices out there that are much more similar to the iPhone (like the Cingular 8525), these devices are really PDA’s with the phone functionality added. I am not saying that the UI of the iPhone doesn’t appear better (at least it appears much more flashy), but the difference is not so staggering.

Finally there are a couple of questions I have after watching the keynote:

1. How will the touch screen work? I have a PDA and I have programs that are meant to be used with your fingers, and while this interface works it can be frustrating. Jobs claims that Apple solved this, I want to see it for myself.
2. How is dialing a phone number? I am concerned about this, in the keynote Jobs glazes over the fact that from the home screen you are two menu’s away from being able to dial your phone. (It appears this is both true for using the “keypad” to dial, or getting to your contacts). This is a problem that the Windows PDA phones have too and is one of the reasons I don’t own one.
3. How much can this phone be customized? Ok, from the keynote I know you can set the background picture. How about setting a mp3 song as a ringtone? Can I (or any one for that matter) write a widget and load it on? These are both things that I can do on my smartphone that weren’t addressed in the keynote.
4. Where are the bluetooth headphones? Come on, if you support A2DP (the bluetooth headphone profile) you should be shouting it from the rafters, the fact that you aren’t makes me think that you won’t support bluetooth headphones. So few devices in the US support this and you would have to think that an iPod phone (that has bluetooth support) would jump all over this. I was able to hack my phone with the profile and I have to say it is the coolest thing to just throw on headphone and push a button to listen to music (while the phone stays in my pocket).
5. What about voice controls? This is a great way to get around the 2-menu deep dialing. If I am wearing my headphones can I push a button and tell the phone to call someone? Again this was not covered in the keynote.
6. What is up with EDGE? This is something that I have already seen covered at length in other blogs. It is insane to think that Apple would partner with Cingular and use their last generation technology. Especially because this is being touted as an internet device that is intended to browse full html pages (not the quickest over EDGE). This one is tough because some of my other concerns could be fixed with a firmware/software upgrade later, this one means you would have to buy another phone later.
7. Which brings me to my last question….$600 for 8gigs? Really? In the keynote Jobs defends the price of the 4gig model ($499) by saying that a 4gig Nano costs $199 and you will spend $299 on a smartphone. I will give him that (although, as he admits in the keynote, $199 is a better figure for a smartphone), but even doing that the math doesn’t work out for the 8gig. The 8gig Nano is $249, add the overpriced smartphone and you come up $50 cheaper then the 8gig iPhone. Using Jobs pricing argument we are almost to the price of a 30gig iPhone. (Hey a 30gig iPhone, that would be nice). Will people pay it? sure they will (I am sure Andy is already saving up).

My conclusion is that there are way to many questions (go figure, it was just announced yesterday). As an iPod Nano with phone functionality it is awesome and a huge upgrade. As a smartphone with iPod functionality it raises the bar in some places and lowers it in others. My guess is that if all goes well, 2008-2009 will bring a new iPhone that handles many of the questions I have here and will be a much more tempting first Apple product for me. That being said, having Apple in this market can only be good, it will force the competition to copy all of their cool features and add more of their own on top.

I should start this by saying that I don’t really enjoy reading, I understand that it is an important mental exercise that we should go through to help keep our minds young and sharp. However, in my day to day life reading just seems, well, boring. There are so many more efficient ways to transmit information to our brains, reading seems archaically slow. So it is only during times of vacation that I seem to find the time to read. I must admit when presented with a few hours of riding as a passenger in a car, or a few nights in a bedroom with no TV, reading becomes a much more interesting and welcome prospect.

It is with that mind set that I review my latest read, “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. I picked this book up in Chicago (yes another vacation) while Amber and I were going on the first phase of our Honeymoon. I mention this, not because I am sure that it will be important for me to remember later when I have an argument with Amber about our honeymoon purchases but because Chicago happens to be the setting for Larson’s Non-Fiction Novel. The novel is split between two stories both taking place around the Worlds Fair in Chicago back in the 1890’s.

The first story tells about the fair itself, how Chicago lobbied for and eventually won the right to host the fair and the stories of the men who helped build and run it. This half of the story is filled with interesting facts about the fair and Chicago. It presents the notion of how enormous the task of building “The White City” was and how it could have gone wrong many times. It was truly impressive to me that based solely on civic pride a group of people could raise an entire city in a couple years, only to have it destroyed soon after. It is hard to think that any American city could do the same today.

The “Devil” in this White City refers to a Serial Killer that walked the streets of Chicago around the time of the fair. This part of the story was especially interesting because it showed how innocent America was during this time. The idea that someone would kill for no reason was so foreign that it didn’t even occur to the Police. This part of the story also shows how disconnected everyone was in the 1890’s. The killer would not have been able to do anywhere near what he did in todays world (His credit score alone would have stopped many of the murders). That idea is comforting, what is not comforting is that killings that seem common place today were enough to cause national headlines and outrage in the 1890’s. Where, Holmes (the killer) was an oddity of his time, we have seen many more serial killers since that proved to be far more deranged.

Overall, this book was a very interesting read. Though it is technically non-fiction it reads like a novel, and was interesting enough to keep this casual readers short attention span. Larson does a good job of keeping the story moving and not getting bogged down in the details. This is not the complete history of the Chicago Worlds Fair, but it touches on the high points. The fault I found in the book was the lack of suspense. I never really felt that connected to the victims, Larson did a good job of setting them up as innocents, and a better job of setting Holmes up as “creepy” (Amber’s word), but the victims never stayed around long enough for me to get attached to them. This hurt the feeling of suspense when Holmes would stalk and court his victims. Parts read much more like a Dateline NBC special then a good thriller. That being said, I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys history and/or mystery/crime novels.

The book can be purchased from Amazon here.