Bunton’s Winter CD: Track 7

Every so often I make up a mix CD of my favorite songs at the moment; mostly new songs, but with some old songs sprinkled in for flavor. I thought it’d be a neat feature of this new blog to go through, song-by-song, and explain a little about why it appeals to me.

Psych is almost one of my favorite shows on television. The show follows goofy Shawn Spencer, son of a retired cop, who was drilled with techniques of keen observation as a child. He’s never been able to hold a steady job, until he enlists his nerdy best friend Gus (played by West Wing alum Dulé Hill) to open a psychic investigating firm. Of course they’re not psychic, but they’ve found it’s the only way to get the local police department to contract them out. The show is quite funny. Most episodes revolve around a theme, from spelling bees to roller derby to astronomy.

The theme song is performed by The Friendly Indians, the garage band of series creator Steve Franks. I’ve always had a little more respect for people who’ve been in a band, because it’s not easy. I’ve dabbled in karaoke from time to time, but I’ve never had the discipline to perform in an actual band.

Next time: more British rock

To UK or to US?

I often find myself telling people I don’t watch a lot of TV.  That is technically true; you don’t find me channel surfing often, and about the only shows I catch when they air are Lost and The Office.  The real truth is that I do watch quite a bit of TV via other means.  Let’s call those other means “Netflix”.

Sports Puppets

One of the many reasons I miss the Triangle area is the quality of the local media (although the TV doesn’t hold a candle to my beloved Upstate). So it is with envy that I watch this video of the NBC 17 late night news on YouTube several days later.

Innotech, er… EniTech

I spent Saturday through Friday last week in Seattle at the Society of Toxicology annual meeting. Seattle is awesome and I had a lot more time to explore than my previous, three day trip. The weather was actually pretty decent — it was often rainy but not raining. In fact, it only rained the two times I didn’t take my umbrella with me.

Anyhow, I need to get back into the blogging habit, and as a big Terminator fan (apparently one of the few that prefers the original) I think that the website for Enitech is pretty entertaining.

Killing the Blue Jeans

Every time I see it, I am blown away by JCPenney‘s ad for Ralph Lauren’s latest line, American Living. Not so much the ad itself, but the use of the song “Killing the Blues” by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Check out the ad, and if you like what you hear, definitely check out the album, Raising Sand.

Recidivistic Development?

Kristin from E! Online—who I think would fit in with our group just fine—reports that an Arrested Development movie may be in the works. It was definitely a love-it-or-hate-it show, and many of us loved it immensely.

My Eighth Annual Super Bowl Party of One

For the first time since 2000, I will not be hosting a Super Bowl Party. (The first year was just me and Brent, and we left at halftime to go to Burger King.) For a couple of years, it was the social event of the season for the graduate students in Duke Physics and their friends. In later years, though, as my involvement in the department shifted from “very” to “kinda”, the crowd reduced to several close friends. Alas, now that I live in a different city, and most of my friends are married with children and/or live prohibitively far, the streak comes to an end. Frankly, it’s a relief. I’m not much in the mood to host a party right now.

My favorite Super Bowl party memory is from 2002. Our friend Karl attended, and it was apparently the first time he’d ever had any interaction with Brad. After observing Brad and I trading barbs all night, he later commented, “I thought that guy was being a dick!”

Anyone else care to share?

The 50 Best TV Episodes of 2007

The folks over at TheFutonCritic.com compile a list every year of the 50 best individual television episodes of the year. I always find it very close to my own ranking, although I don’t watch many of the shows they rank. Today, they completed their recap of 2007. (NOTE: Under each entry is a sentence that contains major spoilers! If you just want a list, I’ll put it after the jump.)

I still say that the last ten minutes of the latest season of Battlestar Galactica is one of my favorite moments in television all-time, but since they gave the show its #1 spot last year, I suppose I can’t be too upset with them putting it at #2, especially considering who it lost out to. One big surprise: I figured #15 would be much higher than it ended up.

Patriots-Colts “Unusual Audio Moment”

The National Football League is denying that the above clip indicates that Indianapolis uses amplifiers to make the crowd louder when their opponents are on offense.  Officials claim that the weird audio effects were not audible in the stadium, but were introduced in the broadcasting.  While conspiracy theorists work feverishly, I am much more amused by this list of possible explanations left as a comment from “Mark G” on the Sports Illustrated blog, The 10 Spot:

1. Electronic interference from Patriot’s surveilance equipment
2. Background noise from Peyton Manning commercials playing on TVs in concession stand walkways
3. Actually sound of women being impregnated simply through a combination Brady’s boyish good looks and cavalier attitude
4. Super-sensitive mikes picked up groans from Al Davis’ Oakland hot-tub as he contemplates letting go a “washed up” Randy Moss

Any other ideas? 

Incidentally, through that blog, I have learned of another blog that is perfect for this blog.  Awful Announcing has been added to the blogroll.

Stephen Colbert for President

Regular viewers of The Colbert Report know that host Stephen Colbert announced that he would run for President, at least in his home state of South Carolina–and is actually doing quite well. When asked which party of which he would seek the nomination, he responded by simply saying, “both,” claiming that it is legally possible in SC. He even started a campaign website and accepted a corporate sponsorship from Doritos and is being courted by Dr Pepper. But is it legal to maintain the program during the campaign, or does Comedy Central technically endorse the candidate by airing his program? Slate tackles the issue here.

(Full disclosure: as a registered voter in South Carolina, I have signed a petition to get Stephen Colbert’s name on the Democratic primary ballot.)