I'm having a good time in Mark's Trio Trophy tournament, even though most of my favorites went down early and I'n now hanging my hopes on Police Squad (in color). When Mark was asking for recommendations, I forgot to mention the following shows I really enjoyed. But the fact that I forgot about them is no doubt indicative of their chances had they been included.

The Jackie Thomas Show - 1992-93 (18 episodes) - Tom Arnold, then married to Roseanne, starred in this show-in-a-show sitcom about a standup comic who demonstrates the Peter Principle when he gets a sitcom. On paper 15 years later, its demise would surprise few. After all, it costarred Dennis Boutskaris, Breckin Meyer, and the infamous Alison LaPlaca. But it had a good dark, sardonic tone that really appealed (the writing staff included David Fury, later of Buffy, Angel, 24, and Lost). People watched, but the dropoff from its leadin (Roseanne, then #2 in the nation behind 60 Minutes) was too high for ABC.

American High - 2000-01 (4 episodes on FOX, remainder on PBS) - That brief summary should tell you exactly what went wrong here. FOX viewers, watching a sensitive documentary about high-school students in Highland Park, IL? Riiight. Despite an Emmy, this was one-and-done.

Oh, that one...
I was confused to see Road House playing at the Siskel as part of a film noir series until I clicked through to the listing.

It May Look Like A Walnut!

Have you played much with Hulu yet? It's got some cool things, but I was sad to see only one season of The Dick Van Dyke show -- specifically, not the season that includes this, my favorite episode of that show and perhaps my favorite half-hour of sitcommery.

Part 1:


Part 2:


the thrilling conclusion!

We still don't have the official paperwork, but we did get a letter from the bank informing us that we had no balance remaining. Eight years. Cool!

It still hasn't fully sunk in yet. A bunch of stuff came due just after, so I haven't yet had a paycheck earmarked for pure frivolity. But I'm thinking more and more about dumb gadgets I don't need. That's not good.

Welcome to 2004!
How up-to-date am I? I'm just getting rolling on GTA: San Andreas, that's how much. Definitely worth $10, but that bargain could get wiped away if I continue to put kettles of water on the stove in real life, then forget about them while playing until they boil down and set off the smoke alarm. Like I did Tuesday. Hey, I needed to fix those graffiti tags. Gotta represent Grove Street, you heard?

BTW, I have CJ bulked up and running around in a gang doorag, joke glasses, sneakers and his tidy-whities. Cracks me up.

Area man's extended family finds blog

¡AY DIOS MIO, CHILLING EFFECT! I hope they don't find out about that one time with the balloon animals, horse tranquilizer, and jellied cranberries...

It was a terrific trip out to SD with a big passel of family. The touristy bits went much as I thought they would, from banal to breathtaking. The day up on the prairie was touching beyond all expectations. Short story: Grandma and a classmate were reunited after nearly 80 years.

Sharing close quarters with 16 of anyone, let alone kin, can have its problems, but that all went quite well. Actually it helped disavow me of a bit of recurring paranoia, which requires a bit of explanation. A big thing I'm indebted to my grandmother for is not anything she did for me, but how she treated my mom upon the coming-out. There is the way you'd expect someone of the old school to take such news, and the way you'd want a mother to take it. Meanwhile, the political and religious spectrum of my aunts and uncles is quite wide, and things were touchy there for a time. Whether she meant to or not, Grandma set the tone, that there are more important things than dogma. So my paranoia, popping in on occasion, was that the acceptance of mom & bonus mom was facile. I'm reminded of the Godfather movies, where Michael protects Fredo as long as Mama Corleone lives. But watching their interactions en masse and for a longer period than previously afforded, I'm convinced it's all genuine.


And finally, the quote of the week:
"Things were really bad when you got down to the shiny pages of the Sears catalog." --Grandma on the lack of modern...erm...niceties.

Bam?

Kirsti and I just got back from a nice healthy spring evening walk -- and proceeded to stomp the health right out of it by stopping for dinner at a little hot dog place. As most hole-in-the-wall restaurants do, this one had a TV on. Only instead of syndicated sitcoms, this one was showing Emeril Live. It's not often a restaurant seems to encourage its patrons to try harder, but there you go.