nonamedufus

What was with the weather in June? I went fishing in the last week of the month and it must have been one of the coolest last weeks of that month on record. But the weather didn't deter me from reading 6 more books this year and now my total thus far is 40 books. My pace may have slipped as I've been binge-watching a lot of series on "Crave TV" lately. Things like Carnivale, HAPPYish, The Smoke, and The Fear. All quite good. Where were these series the first time around? Recent movies include This Is Where I Leave You, Still Alice, What Maise Knew and The Good Lie. DVDs I have in reserve are the Larry Sanders Show, the updated Prisoner series and Sherlock. So lots to get to, too. Anyway, books...in June. Did a little catching up with Jack Reacher (One Shot) and Dismas Hardy (The Fall). I like these  detective type novels. In fact a third book was also in this vein, an unlikely novel by Stephen King called Finders Keepers, which is a continuation of his re...

Last week there was a story about some guy who, unhappy with the Discovery Channel's programming, armed himself to the teeth, stormed the network's headquarters and took several employees hostage. But it all ended well. Police shot the guy to death. This guy was apparently upset with Discovery airing the program "Kate Plus 8". Woo-hoo. Kate haters unite!  He also wasn't too keen on the show "19 Kids and Counting".  I'm telling you, this fella had it bad - worse than my friend Don over at Beyond Left Field  who absolutely hates kids...and cats...and dogs...and, uh, just about everyone...and, ah, everything. Hey, what happened to hubby? Did he get a show too? But let's get back to Mister moron, here. The guy was obviously a cheese curd shy of a good poutine. Sorry, that's a Canadian reference. How about...his elevator didn't go to the top floor?  He was a brick shy of a full load? He wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer? ...

What is it with TV these days? A couple of years ago I switched from cable to satellite TV. Every channel in the universe was at my command, or at least at my remote control (see that play on words, there? If I'm in control, how can I be remote? Ha!) But so what? There's still nothing on. Especially now - between summer's end and the beginning of the new television season which apparently stretches anywhere from mid September to well into October.  I've already seen every repeat of Two And-A-Half men...at least three times.  And if I have to watch one more edition of House Hunters on HGTV I'm gonna not only lose control but throw it at my television screen. To paraphrase a rock group from my generation (another play on words!) The Who, it's a tee-vee wasteland. So as I wait for the return of my favourites like House, Heroes, Flash Forward, Two And-A-Half Men and NFL Football *grunts, snorts, farts* what's a boy to do? Well, funny you should ask. Oh...

My wife and I used to have a real problem with antiquing.  We'd go antique hunting every waking moment.   Our house was so full of antiques we could have opened our own antique store. And we had a problem with strolling.   My wife and I were strolling everywhere.  Our little strolls were turning into full outings. Then I discovered big screen televised sports.   Baseball, football, basketball, NASCAR, hockey, golf - even darts and Texas Hold 'em Poker.  And don't forget women's beach volleyball.  And my antiquing and strolling…sort of…stopped. And my wife…sort of…left me.  For some guy that found Viagra. Anyone seen my remote?

She’s been called wacky and erratic , but each week millions upon millions tuned in to see what blithering vapidness she’d come up with. And she made millions upon millions of dollars as the middle judge, bookended between Simon “Reminds Me Of A Cabaret Singer” Cowell and Randy “Dog” Jackson on American Idol. Bookended until last season when the program’s producers added Kara DioGuardi to the mix. I guess that was the beginning of the end for Miss Shut Up And Dance because last week she told her fans in a Tweet on Twitter that she was leaving the show. You know I don’t think it had anything to do with the fact that her contract talks were going nowhere. I think there were other, more substantive reasons, any one of which could have put her over the edge… Here are several reasons why Paula may have departed Idol: Cowell wouldn’t stop playing footsie with her under the judge's table. If Randy told her one more “touring with Journey” story she was gonna puke. All this time she thoug...

Here's an ad with a little something for everyone. It stars model Gisele Bundchen (wife of Patriots' QB Tom Brady) and includes football (natch), a little Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon action and even Zombies (ya hear that Quirky?!). Oh yeah, and it's selling HDTVs. Sit back and enjoy this innovative ad...

My God we missed Don Adams' birthday! Were he alive, Adams would have been 83. Who's Don Adams ? Why Adams was Agent 86, Maxwell Smart. From the warped and whacky minds of Buck Henry and Mel Brooks, Get Smart cashed in on the "spy" craze of the mid-60s and spoofed such staples of the day as James, Bond and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. It ran for 5 years - 4 on CBS and the 5th on NBC. I know one 13 year old in 1965 who sat glued to the TV when this came on because not only was the show so funny but it's co-star, Barbara Feldon, was very easy on the eyes. And I recall it was all the rage to mimic Smart at school. The show was known for such catch-phrases as "Sorry about that Chief" when Max screwed up; "Would you believe..." because Max was prone to slight exageration: and, when told he'd be facing certain danger - which was often - Max would reply "And loving it!" Me and my buddies slayed each other with these comebacks. They were k...

Damn, I hate investing all that time in a TV show only for it to be cancelled. The greatest show on TV (in my humble opinon) came to a screeching halt last night after only one season. A knock-off of a British series, ABC's Life On Mars was nevertheless an excellent show with an exceptional cast. The premise involved a cop hit by a car in 2008 who wakes up in 1973. So he felt like he was living on Mars. Indeed he met himself, as a kid, and both his parents. Last night in the season/series finale we learned he really was living on Mars - he , and the cast of characters, were astronauts waking up from a deep space sleep and about to touch down on the red planet. That's right, it was all a dream! The show was a mix of police drama meets science-fiction. It was quirky enough to draw me in week after week. It had a great soundtrack - from the 70s, natch - and the main character's awareness of the future led to some comical plot developments. And now it's gone. And without i...

Who can't forget the opening from this Britsh show in the early 80s... The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy was first a stage play, then a book, then a radio series, then an early 80s television series on the BBC and on PBS in North America and most recently a film. It's author, Douglas Adams , died at the age of 49. Today he would have turned 57. The book is one of the funniest things I've ever read. And the BBC TV series was equally funny. Here are a few quotes Adams is fondly remembered for: A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools. Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. Flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. He hoped and prayed that there wasn't an afterlife. Then he realized there was a contradiction involved here and merely hoped that there wasn't an afterlife. He wa...

merci

The child star of Circus Boy turns 64 today. Of course, "Corky" went on to be Mickey Dolenz the drummer of the Monkees, a manufactured musical group made solely for TV. The Monkees ran for two years, beginning in 1966. In my estimation they sucked. Judge for yourself... But, then, this wasn't much better...10 years earlier:

Here's what we're talkin' about...

How cool is this!? I want one. But I think I'll wait till the price comes down. More here

"I am not a number..." was the famous line that opened each installment of The Prisoner starring Patrick McGoohan , a fascinating British series that baffled and enthralled at the same time. Regular readers of this blog will know I love the series and enjoyed going through the box set last year (I spoke about it here: http://nonamedufus.blogspot.com/2008/09/not-funny-or-profoundjust-cool.html ). Sadly, McGoohan died yesterday at the age of 80. Fans everywhere will be mourning his passing and likely be intoning "be seeing you" one last time.

Ralphie: I want an Official Red Ryder Carbine-Action Two-Hundred-Shot Range Model Air Rifle! Santa Claus: You'll shoot your eye out, kid. One of my all-time favourite christmas movies has got to be A Christmas Story , one of the funniest movies from any time of the year. The film, celebrating it's 25th anniversary , tugs our memories back to when we were kids at christmas, hoping and praying for that special gift. The dialogue from the movie is exquisite, and the situations Ralphie, his father (Darren McGavin) and his brother get into are priceless. Mental Floss has a page of Trivia about the movie and did you know you could buy the leg lamp? In fact there are 13 different leg lamp items for sale at the A Christmas Story House Gift Shop Here's the movie boiled down to 2:09: