Monthly Archives: September 2010

Watched a full evening a Fox’s new lineup tonight. Glee was, as usual, adept at mixing music with racial/sexual/religious stereotypes–which for some reason is acceptable because the show is blatant about it…? I’m not sure how that works, but every episode has a couple moments in which I think “Wait a second, that’s actually kind of racist/sexist…” Maybe it’s ok because they do it with a wink, but it still strikes me as one of those shows that feels progressive while dishing out the same tired stereotypes we see everywhere else on TV.

Raising Hope was actually a lot funnier than its previews made it out to be. There were several moments where Corinne and I were laughing out loud, which doesn’t happen much outside of 30 Rock and Community. Season Pass = Added!

The other new show, Running Wilde, proves once again that TV guys are still trying to recreate Arrested Development without learning its lesson. In Running Wilde, Will Arnett plays the kooky trust-fund 30-year-old, while Keri Russell plays the kooky environmentalist he used to love.

But it’s too much kooky. Every line’s a joke, nothing is played straight. Tell me if you disagree, but for me, The Lesson of Arrested Development is this: You can have all the kooky characters you want, as long as Michael Bluth plays it straight. In fact, EVERY OTHER CHARACTER on that whole series was a zany concoction, but it worked because the guy with the most screen time was real.

The lesson here is to stop casting G.O.B. as the lead. It doesn’t work.

Michael Bluth, the key to all comedy

My coworker Jim has gotten me addicted to Big Brother this season. I know, I know…I made fun of him for watching it until I started, and now I can’t stop. The only TV viewers I can still look down on are those who are watching Jersey Shore and Real Housewives of Whatever.

Anyway, it occurred to me today that if we’re ever going to colonize space, it won’t be because of NASA or Richard Branson–the only real reason we’d colonize Mars is so we can send 12 people there to live in a house together and vote one another out the airlock.

CBS, if you blast people into space now, they’ll be in place for the 2011 season of Big Brother.

News you can use from Esquire: Your waist size is probably a bit bigger than your jean size would indicate. Old Navy’s 36″ jeans are actual 41″, while Gap’s are 39″. Crazy, right? 5 extra inches of space to “grow into” before moving up a waist size!

This also somewhat confirms my Levi’s suspicion: Levi’s has been “fattening up” its jeans for a while now. For a couple years I wore (and loved) Levis 514s (Slim Straight). About a year ago I had to move to the 511 (Skinny) to get jeans with the same fit. 514s were no longer slim. And now, at this very moment, right this second, there’s a pair of 511s in a bag in my room that need to go back because, guess what? The “Skinny” jeans are neither skinny nor slim. I compared the leg opening to another pair of 511s and they aren’t even close. I guess now I need to move on to the 510 (Super Skinny).

I think I get Levi’s motivation. Guys want to think they’re wearing skinny jeans but they don’t actually want to wear them. So Levi’s labels them whatever, and everyone feels good about themselves. Like the kid with the 41-inch waist who thinks he’s a size 36.

I’ll tell you who isn’t lying to you: European stores like H&M and Topshop. You have a size 36 waist? Topshop will tell you so, and then send you elsewhere because they don’t even carry pants in that size. There’s an Old Navy across the street…try on the size 34 and wonder why it fits so much better than Topshop’s 34.

Lies!

Here’s the look I’m going for

Great week for BYU football–and I say that without even knowing the results of our Saturday game against Jake Locker and the Wash. Huskies. We’re free of the Mountain West conference, its garbage TV “network,” and the sulfuric stench of commissioner Craig Thompson.

And I just might be done having to Slingbox games from California so I can watch them in NYC.

The best part of the deal is that it cements ESPN as BYU’s best friend for the next 8 years. That is absolutely huge. They’re going to broadcast BYU home games and help with scheduling, and if you know anything about college football, you know that ESPN holds ALL the cards. Really, all of them. ESPN is The House, and BYU gets to play with The House’s money for the next eight years.

USA Today has the details