Since people are not happy unless I update on a semi-regular basis, I've decided today to give you some reviews on what I've been watching, reading, doing, you know, just random things really.
I am listening to... Chris Daughtry's CD, called Daughtry. Even if you didn't see or didn't like Chris on American Idol last year, you should listen anyway. If you want a sample, tune into Fox on 'kick 'em off' night - it's his song "Home" that plays as they send people packing off this season's American Idol. I'm really now about 4 songs in and 3 of them are Fred-worthy, so I feel pretty comfortable giving this 4 out of 5 oreos on the Holly rating scale. Plus, as Relle knows already, the guy pulls off eyeliner verrrrry nicely. :)
The surprise song-I-didn't-know-about-until-it-popped-up-on-Fred's-shuffle-setting for the week is Sheryl Crow's remake of "D'Yer Maker" by Led Zeppelin. I don't like Led Zeppelin, except for this song, which I didn't know was even called that, because that is the stupidest name ever for a song. But I sure like her version. It's on some Zeppelin tribute CD.
I am reading.... Caleb Carr's "The Italian Secretary" which is actually a Sherlock Holmes book. I heart Caleb Carr's other stuff (go read "The Alienist" - not about aliens, I promise) but this one not so much. It was a decent Sherlock Holmes mystery if you like that sort of thing, but for better ones read Laurie King's Mary Russell books, start with "The Beekeeper's Apprentice". One of the things I have always liked about both Laurie King's and the original Holmes stories is that they are hard to figure out, to the point that sometimes the complexity of the story is just funny. This one I had figured out about a third of the way in, which sucked. I kept waiting for me to be wrong and some odd thing to come up, and it never did. It was like going into a mystery novel thinking "the butler did it" and then the butler really did do it, and there weren't ever any other suspects.
My last re-read... was "The Eyes of the Dragon" by Stephen King. Don't like Stephen King? Read this and you will. It's a fairy tale. Not a horror story. A fairy tale. Don't believe he writes such things? Here is how this book starts. "Once, in a kingdom called Delain, there was a King with two sons." Here is how it ends. "But now the hour is late, and all of that is another tale, for another day." In between there is 300 pages or so of total enchantment. It's a fast read, without being dumbed down at all, and is one that will keep you up reading until you finish.
I am watching... gracious,what don't I watch? I heart the new Black Donnellys show. Amazing Race All-Stars is the most entertaining yet, although I guess it might be slightly more interesting if Rob and Amber didn't come in first every time. The Lakisha Jones show, I mean American Idol, looks to be a race for second place already, to me. I always hold out high hopes for the boys though, so keep an eye on Blake. Survivor has gotten to the point where it wasn't even fun to watch last night, one team lives in comparative luxury and wins ALL the time, so I am glad they are switching things up next week (at least according to the previews). LOST is finally back to form, actually keeping me waiting on next week again instead of me only watching to see Sawyer shirtless. Heroes is on break, but is definitely the best new show this year. Studio 60 would have gotten my vote for that, but I guess it's like done. :( At least the replacement (see Black Donnellys) is pretty good too.
My guilty tv pleasure... Road Rules - Viewer's Revenge. You get to vote on who gets to battle for a spot on the RV every week! There is drama and tears and people punching each other! Nuff said.
I'm playing... Lego Star Wars II The Original Trilogy on PSP. You are little Lego Star Wars characters, alternately blasting or lightsabering other more evil little Lego Star Wars characters, and flying around in Lego Star Wars spaceships. You get to use the Force to do cool stuff, and you can build bouncing piles of random Legos into groovy things. When you get hit, you don't die, you fall apart and get rebuilt. And apparently the galactic currency is Lego studs (the little round one peg lego pieces)in the future, which can only be good for me. It's the most fun game I have played since Sly Cooper. Not only is it not too hard for me, but it has some hilarious moments, and the replay value is good. You can play story mode, which is what I am doing now, (I just finished with Empire and now have to start Jedi) or free play mode, which means you can wander around looking for all those fun bonus things.
When Charlie is at school I sneak down to his room and play... Thrillville on his Xbox. It's like the Sims, kinda, you run a theme park, so yea, I'm gonna be playing it. Shhh don't tell Charlie, he gets mad when I touch his stuff. :)
Ok, that's all I have now. Maybe some other day I will discuss the
Definitive 200 list and why it's only about half right. ;)
