'Nuff said

Wow, my last blog is from 2 months ago! I just wanted to let everybody know that I'm not gone, I just have a very hectic life at the moment, which basically leaves me with around 0 hours of free time per day. I'll try to be around more in the future than I have been lately, but I'm not sure I'll make it

Oh, and two pink fluffy points go to the first one who names the source of the blog title

Ok, I'm trying to write a blog since Monday, but I didn't get too far... So I'll try to keep it short, so that I'll finish it

On Tuesday the week before we had our topping out ceremony, which was a great party. But on Wednesday a had a bad hangover, even though I thought that I hadn't drunk that much... I still had the hangover on Thursday and on Friday and on Saturday, ... So it seems it was no hangover after all, but some kind of virus

On this Wednesday I had a few important meetings which didn't went as good as I wanted with me not be to concentrate or articulate a whole sentence SO before I knew it, I was set for a business trip to Russia the whole next week. But instead of seeing an airport, a hotel and a company, I won't even see that much, because our meeting will take place in the hotel, great... Oh and I was chosen to present some products I have never heard about, so this will be one wasted week... It also meant that I had to prepare the trip and the presentations for this meeting over the last couple of days (of course in addition to normal work... I have to learn to say 'no' to my bosses once in a while ) which is the reason I haven't written a blog in that time.

I also met with my electrician to perform all the planning for the house, and after we were nearly done, he mentioned that it seems that I forgot two important things in my plans - Computer network and TV! Yes, I know, as a member of tv.com, these should be the first things to think about, not the ones I completely forget

Nevertheless, I managed to finally read noahcrash's Serial part 4! Great, wicked, freaky stuff!

Oh, and I somehow managed to get to a new level for the first time in a long while So I should re-start submitting to finally get to my favourite level, #22...

Oh, and I watched some TV, as always. Here a few tidbits:

Moonlight (Pilot):

Worst opening exposition ever! It was obviously tagged on after the episode was already finished and it was so sloppy, it even managed to ruin scenes half an hour later. The rest of the episode was some standard nothing out of the ordinary vampire PI stuff. Oh, and hello writers, if you do a murder mystery, please include more then 3 guest stars, it keeps the who done it rather easy to guess...

Still: 4/10

Life:

A police officer who was incarcerated for 10 years for a murder he didn't commit, gets a big settlement, including him being promoted to Detective. He is just a bit off, what makes this kind of a different procedural, a bit like Raines was last year. Add to that an ongoing storyline about him trying to figure out what really happened 10 years ago, some great actors (Damian Lewis, Adam Arkin, Robin Weigert) and you have quite an interesting series.

7.5/10, will keep watching, witch means another procedural has to go... buy-buy Numb3rs.

The second episodes of Reaper and Chuck both did not live up to their pilots, with Reaper still being better than the similar Chuck.

I liked the second episode of Journeyman, even though the connections of his time travels to the desired end effect is very far fetched...

Stargate Atlantis started its 4th season, without anything spectacular. I don't see how Samantha Carter will fit into this, SGA already has 2 geniuses with Rodney and Zelenka...

What if:

Life: A friend/colleague of yours was in prison for a long time for murder (and you were convinced he did it). Now he is released and his name cleared. How do you react towards him?

This happened today in the past: 1985: The Achille Lauro was hijacked by terrorists and 1000 people held hostage.

As the title of this blog indicates, I went to the 'Police' concert this weekend and to sum it up, it was just great!

The scheduled time for opening the gates was 4:15pm, so we were at the stadium at 4 pm to get a decent place not too far from the stage. There were less people than I expected already waiting in front of the entrance, and that for a reason - the entrance wasn't opened until 5pm, I just got a wrong time from the website But it was a good thing as I was as near the stage as never before on a big concert; about the third row standing, with perfect view onto the stage!

The people around us were nice, the weather was sunny and warm, so the time until the start of the supporting band (scheduled for 6:15 start 6:45) went by fast with drinking a few beers, eating sausages and Brezn.

The opener was 'Fictionplane' a band I had never heard of before, but the lead singer is Stings son, so you know why their were playing

The played some straight, plain rock for an hour, nothing extraordinary, but just the right thing to get the audience into the mood. We settled for more waiting afterwards, as 'The Police' was not scheduled before 8:30 and with all the 'accuracy' of the schedule before I expected them to start around 9. I think the whole audience (especially those with fixed seats who wanted to arrive just in time for 'The Police' ) was surprised when the show began shortly after 8pm.

And it was as good or even better than I hoped for. The show itself was concentrating on 3 excellent musicians playing great songs, so there was no big special effects show as you sometimes have at big concerts. It was basically 3 large screens at the backside of the stage, featuring the 3 guys and some (ok, a lot) light show. The play list read basically like a 'best of' album, as expected, with a few not so well known songs (I think there were 1 or 2 I had never heard before) mixed in.

As I wrote before, all 3 performers were fantastic, with Sting playing a lot with the audience (and the 50.000+ people doing what he wanted ), Andy Summers doing some great guitar work, but the one I have to single out is Steward Copeland, just AMAZING! Starting with his outfit, his expressions and the quality of his play, he also has to be in an awesome physical shape for his age. He had different kinds of drums all over the stage, running through them, playing different sty*les on different instruments, throwing about a dozen sets of drumsticks all over the place

So after 2 hours of 'The Police' it was over and we managed somehow to get out of the city again (At the same time about one million Oktoberfest attendees took the same trains we did...)

Ok, enough of that, today's our 'topping out' ceremony, so my next blog will probably about that And you'd never guessed, I watched some TV, too!

Burn Notice, Season Finale

Over the past 12 episodes, this show has become my favourite summer show. Those of you who read my review of the pilot might remember that I wasn't so sure about it. But the show found its footing easily and got better and better. So in the season finale (the next season is already ordered, so it's definitely no series finale), Michael tries to finally get hold of the guy who burned him, while Sam is doing a small, easy side job with a little help from Fiona. It's the season finally, so it's not as easy Michael meets the guy who is instantly shot and killed after revealing a few bits of the background of the burn notice, while Sam and Fi realize, that the opposition they are facing is better then they are, even with the help from Michael (This has to be the first time in the series that our team of spies and terrorists seemed totally out of control of the situation). So they needed outside help - Michael's brother, who did a nice turn from stupid, overconfident a-hole to a reliable help! I'm sure we'll see more of him next year.

So overall, great finale of a great show: 9/10

Journeyman, Pilot

Dan is a journalist who suddenly disappears for days as a time for as what he believes are strange dreams, while he actually travels back in time without any idea what's happening to him. As obviously no-one believes him, his friends and family try to get him into drug therapy and his marriage is about to break on his unexplainable disappearances. It takes him some time to realize that his trips follow the life of a man and that he, Dan, is affecting this life significantly. And what is his dead ex-wife doing there in the past?

I liked the protagonist, the supporting cast, the set-up and the reaction of the people around Dan. What I didn't like was the story 'in the past'. That part was just boring... Oh and please, does every story with inexplicable time travel things need a plane crash as the catalyst?

Shows promise, if the writers are able to write interesting 'past stories': 6/10

What if?

Journeyman: What would you do if a family member would suddenly start to disappear for days at a time without an explanation and acted wierd and delusional?

This happened today in the past: 1789 U.S. Congress passes 12 amendments to the constitution, including the ten amendments known as the "Bill of Rights".

Just a short blog to let you know that I'm still alive

The last few weeks (and the next few to come) were quite hectic for me, so I managed less and less time for leisure (like tv.com). Therefore I have to apologize for not reading or commenting on blogs or even answering PMs, sorry! (I admit I have seen a few things on TV though, see below )

So how come my time is drastically reduced? First, I got a big new project at work which alone would give me enough to do to cover my workday, but then, my other projects (which also cover my whole workday) don't just disappear...

Second, the construction on my house is running in over-drive. Mid August, there was nothing, just a plain strip of land... By the end of this week however, the building shell will be completed (including cellar, brickwork and roof structure)! This means for me that I have to work a lot with the construction people to define the pipe-work, electrical stuff, exact type of windows etc., select interior details out of a multitude of possible options, fill out applications and forms and a lot of bureaucratic stuff to get gas, water, electricity and so on - all in a time frame of the 2 weeks since I've been back from vacation. And a bit of controlling the construction workers isn't a bad idea either.

So that's about everything I do at the moment. I try to spend a few minutes each day on tv.com but I don't always succeed

But enough of that It was all my own choice, wasn't it?

The summer season comes to a halt and the fall season is here, so let's have a quick look on what I've seen to far (Spoilers, obviously, and lots of them):

The 4400 Season 4 finale:

A lot happened in this episode! The tables are turned and the world is no longer what it was before. At least 9000 dead, at least 9000 new Promison positives, including half of NTAC. The Marked are severely weakened and the 4400 have their own Genosha now. When will the government start building Sentinels?

Even though I have some issues with the flow of this episode, as some things were resolved far to easily like the 'medicine' and others made not much sense (killing Shawn's brother, even though there was an easy way to keep him alive and well), it works great as a season finale: It gives enough closure to end the series right here if there is no renewal, but at the same time opens up so many possibilities for a new season, that a S5 would definitely be interesting and entertaining. 8/10

Prison Break:

Michael Scofield is back in prison and he has to get out fast, this time without a plan and proper preparation. But what a prison that is! The guards have pulled out, the prison is run by the inmates and everyone who tries to leave the prison building is shot on sight. But at least, the inmates get food and water delivered from the outside.

Basically this whole setup doesn't make too much sense. It's saidthat whoever is thrown in, never comes out again, but then people that haven't been tried yet are put in, awaiting their trial! I understand that in Michael's case The Company is behind that, but what about Mahone, T-Bag and Bellick? Oh and people are walking in and out without proper background checks it seems... So The Company can pull all sorts of strings, but they cannot arrange to get someone out of this prison?

Also, new opening credits and a variation of the theme (which is less effective then the old one IMHO)

Not a very good start of the season, but let's see how it turns out: 6/10

K-Ville:

2 Years after Katrina, New Orleans is still a mess. People are leaving the town, reconstruction is slow and the police under-staffed. The show follows the investigation of 2 police officers after some fund-raisers have been hit by drive-by shooters. One of those 2 seems to be an alcoholic, the other one is an ex-con. Yes, it seems like they take everybody as a police officer. The whole show didn't do much for me, the set-up is intriguing, but the story and the characters are not. So one episode and out for me: 4/10

What if?

K-Ville: If your home town was hit by a natural disaster and your home destroyed, would you re-built what's left or move to a different, safer place?

This happened today in the past: 1982: Scott E. Fahlman uses ASCII characters to display joke markers - the emoticons are born