Joy

Didn't get any writing done this weekend and the whole family is sick, including me*. Nevertheless, there were many reasons to be cheerful.

-I totally rule the plumbing! Pulled all the plumbing out of the sink, cleared all the blockages and put everything back together: no leaks and everything works better than it ever did! 111one!!

-Emily and Liz went to the Ballet and absolutely loved it. Meanwhile Abigail took my hand, pulled me downstairs to the iMac and demanded I load the Toy Story web site. She's two and she knows how to get to the Pixar website.

-Flight of the Conchords got BoingBoing'd

-I got to see the last ever Royle Family, the existence of which I was unaware of until recently. Stellar.

-I finally finished reading the book that would not die. It starts well but it's pretty insubstantial. There's probably an excellent short story in here trying to get out.

-I have extremely high hopes for what I'm reading now. And I'm only on page 6! Oh yeah, I've been needing to read something like this for a long time.

-I Am Kloot

*Here's my latest theory why guys like zombie moves. Because they're all about guys with colds! Think about it - you're at home, in the mall, at work, wherever, and somebody infects you, probably a family member or workmate. Then you're all like shuffling around going 'urrrrr' until someone takes pity on you and shoots you in the head. Ask Liz if that's a pretty good description of me this weekend.

It's back!

Well, not just yet, but soon: The greatest reason ever to ever own a television in New Zealand ever returns. Ever.

Via OurTube, the Outrageous Fortune series 3 promo!

If there's not much blogging from me this week it's because I have to go back and watch series 1 and 2. Again.

Did I mention this is the greatest television ever produced? Yes, even better than the time Thingee's eye fell out...

Flight of the Conchords

So obviously every bloke and his dog has been linking to this today (yo Public Address & Pip!). But, yanno, why not? The first episode of the new Flight of the Conchords TV series is right here! And on HBO, who are responsible for an alarming number of my favorite shows (Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Carnivale). Go you fullas!

Also, you guys know HBO are working on adaptions of both George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire and Ennis & Dillon's Preacher, don't you? Story.

Whizzer

Every time I bring up the TV series from the eighties about the kids who used their computers to fight crime, people think I'm crazy. And every now and then I take a look round the internets to see if there's any reference to it. Today, Wil Wheaton posted about the Whiz Kids comic book, in which the young munchkins demonstrate a remarkable knowledge of the TRS-80 and Tandy software catalogue. It's not the same Whiz kids. But it reminded me to take another look. And so, from the unflinching eye on history that is YouTube, I give you:

Whiz kids main title
Whiz Kids, episodes 1-3

Elizabeth II: Visit From A Nice Old Lady

OK, I think I just saw the best. Daily Show. Ever.

I can't see any video on the Comedy Central site yet, but there some coverage at TV Squad.

And yeah, Richard Quest is my favorite thing about CNN. I can't wait for the shocking revelation that he's actually from New Jersey...

go to sea boy, get to sea man

And welcome back Outrageous Fortune!

I've been holding out for series two like a kid waiting for Christmas. It's probably the only thing worth taping on TV these days. Really, if you haven't seen it before, go out now and get hold of season 1 on DVD. This really is excellent stuff. It's the only series on TV that makes me laugh out loud*

And the first episode lived up to expectations. Highlights: probably Wolf's frustration at not being able to mow the verge because of his home detention device and maybe Loretta finding out she's not quite as smart as she thought.



*well, except for Rock Star Supernova, but that's more of a creepy laugh that makes people edge away from me slowly. You know, the "that's funny because Dave Navarro used to be vaguely credible" laugh.

Great television from the mirror universe

At the moment Emily is watching a lot of of Muppet Show episodes. This is cool for a number of reasons. My first TV-related memory is watching the first episode on my parent's first television. We wanted to record it, but this was before video, so my brothers and I held microphones up to the TV. It's also pretty funny that Emily will be the only person in her kindergarten to know who Peter Ustinov is.

Great as the muppet show is though, I started to wonder how much better it could have been, if the guests were slightly different. Wouldn't you love to see the episode where John and Yoko were the guests? What about President Nixon, singing to a muppet dog called Checkers? And what about having Norman Mailer, in sketches based on his most recent book, The Executioner's Song. You know, the one about the execution of Gary Gilmore. Of course, in the muppet version there would be far more monsters and explosions.

And while we're on the subject of Norman Mailer- he must have been the inspiration for George the Janitor.



See... twins!