Dollhouse: The second (and final) season was rushed, but even with that, Joss Whedon and company was able to put together a better season than the first. I’m happy to have watched such a good show, although I was still a bit confused with the end. Here is my list in order of favorite Joss Whedon shows; #1 Buffy The Vampire Slayer #2 Angel #3  Firefly #4  Dollhouse.

Who doesn't want a Colonial Viper?

Battlestar Gallactica: Although I hadn’t mentioned it on here (did mention it on Facebook) I finally got into watch the new creation of Battlestar while on vacation last year.  Season 1 was awesome and some of the best Sci-Fi TV I’ve ever watched.  Season 2 was good, 3 sort was just ok and dragged on.  The final season (4) was good, but the finale was a bit of a let down.  I tried to watch the new show Caprica which was set 50 years before BSG, but the first episode was too slow to get me interested in it.

Other shows that have basically ended or been canceled that I enjoyed watching were Better Off Ted, which was the smartest comedy to be on TV for years, and Scrubs, which was a lot different this year, but really had started to come into its own with the new cast of characters.

Out of the comedies we’ve been watching lately, Big Bang Theory and How I Met Your Mother remain my favorites.  Big Bag Theory produces laugh after laugh, and I highly entertained by the character Sheldon Cooper.  How I Met Your Mother hasn’t been as good as BBT, but remains a show that I look forward to, let’s just hope that we can actually see some stories of Ted with the mother.  ABC’s new shows, The Middle and Modern Family have also been highlights of the week.  But in my mind the best new comedy of the season is Community.  Sure Joel McHale is the “star” of the cast, but this is a show that goes nowhere without the rest of the cast members, the guys that play Troy and Abed are comedy gold, and their little end of show after credit bits are some of the funniest things.  Lastly I can’t forget the Office, which has lost some of its luster in my opinion due to Michael Scott, but is still a show that we are drawn to watch.

I’m not even sure where to begin with the dramas we watch, even though I consider them more niche than just dramas.  There are Action Comedies, Action Dramas, and Science Fiction.

Action Comedy

Chuck: I’m so happy to hear that the numbers for Chuck this season appear to be good enough to keep it off the cutting room floor.  Chuck has been really good for this season, except for the most recent episode that was shown before the Winter Olympics started.  Having Sarah fall for the new guy, is just stupid, especially when everyone knows that she loves Chuck and he loves her.  Not to mention I’m not really at all happy that they have Lana Lang guest starring.  But other than those two stupid subplots, the main plots have been great.

Action Dramas

24: TELL ME WHERE THE BOMB IS!  I guarantee you that we will be hearing this line within the next 5 episodes, especially since there is actually going to be a bomb.  Pure action, pure Jack Bauer, what more do you expect after this many seasons?

Burn Notice: The secondary plot for Michael Westen hasn’t been one of my favorites, but it’s still one of my favorite action shows.  Highlight from this season, Bruce Campbell’s CSI: Miami impression…

Human Target:  I wasn’t really sure what to make of this when I saw the previews, then last minute I set it to record and I’ve been hooked on it ever since.  Christopher Chance is an interesting character, and I’m happy they leaving a lot of his past a mystery.  It’s just pure action, but just enough character development to get you to really enjoy the characters.  This is the best new Drama of the season.

Science Fiction

Eureka: Has been picked up for 22 episodes in mid 2010.  Other than that, the woman who was playing Sheriff Carter’s love interest got a new show but then it was canceled, so hopefully that means they will lend up bringing her back.  This is really an entertaining show.  I still miss the guy that played Stark though.

Lost: It’s the final season, and things are sort of being explained, such as the numbers…  Well they weren’t really explained more so just brought up again in another context.  The most confusion this season is why do we keep seeing clips of them back in the US, while the show is still on the island.  I think the clips are what ends up happening once everything is set back at the end.

Erica Durance the Amazon Princess...

Smallville: On its 9th season, you wouldn’t expect this show to improve and actually change.  One of the biggest issues with Smallville has always been that it had too much high school teen angst.  Much of the angst has been dropped, which has led to this season of Smallville being what I consider the best season ever of the show.  With episodes like Absolute Justice.  It also doesn’t hurt when they have Erica Durance dressed in a Wonder Woman like costume…

So what have you been watching?  What have you enjoyed?  What has disappointed you?

Expect a Weekly Links update by the end of the week!

Goodbye 2009 it was a great year!

For those of you that didn’t see the pictures I posted 2 weeks ago, we put up our Christmas lights, we also got our tree decorated (pictures will be posted at the end of the month).  The past couple weeks we have been taking care of our Christmas shopping and also prepping the house for the first of what will be many Christmas parties our house will be the host of.  This Sunday is my dad’s side of the family’s Christmas party, we should have about 20-30 relatives in attendance.  And then on Christmas day we will have a party for my mom’s side of the family, which will be a bit smaller but will also include Kelly’s family (actually both parties will include Kelly’s family) and any friends that want to come over.  Work is winding down for the year as goals have been met and projects have been completed, I’m happy to say I still have a job that I enjoy although this year was a lot different from the previous two years due to the lack of new hires our department had to train.  Kelly’s business is doing well, although we did have a decrease in business compared to 2008, but we are in good standing.  All the animals are happy and healthy and we are all looking forward to the new year.  I’m proud of myself for keeping up with my Weekly Cool Links project, even though it’s not quite as ‘weekly’ as it claims to be, I hope someone out there finds some entertainment in me sharing what I find interesting.  Lastly my Eat in OC project has been doing great, I typically have around 5000 visits a month and I’ve made some major inroads with gaining new readers.  I’ve been linked to on a number of local websites, and high-profile local blogs, and in addition my articles are routinely linked to in the Orange County Register’s Community Blogs section which is only 5 links deep from their front page, how many others can say something like that?  I’ll probably post one more time before the year ends, but for now let’s move on to the rather large links section!

Food
Lifehacker had a great article on maximizing Thanksgiving leftovers that will also prove useful with Christmas leftovers.  While over at Slashfood they had 4 fast recipes for making great Tomato sauces.

Tiger Woods’ Women, er I mean Chicks
Some of these links may not be safe for work, or family friendly.  But this is my blog so if you don’t want to see possibly scantily clad women don’t look at the links in this section.  If you are related to me and offended, oh well, I’m sure you have something else you can be proud of me for, get over it… ;)
Twitter is a wonderful tool for communication and for people to share pictures with, some pictures are more interesting than others as you can see from this collection of Hot Chicks that use Twitter for the powers of good.  I do not approve or disapprove of their use of Twitter…  Maybe Twitter chicks aren’t your thing?  How about Chicks dressed in various NFL Team Jerseys?  What’s that?  You like farm girls?  How about German farm girls that model to help German agriculture?  Here you go.  Personally I like my girls a little different from the norm.  Lastly there is the Internet’s Girlfriend…  Funny how I’ve been on the internet for 15 years yet hadn’t heard of her till recently.  One suggestion for her site, more pictures like this and less like the one on the top of her website…

Sports
It got so bad at Notre Dame this year that after they fired Charlie Weis they went straight to the big man in the sky and offered him the head coaching job.  The Onion reports that Jesus Christ himself turned down a 3 year multimillion dollar offer to coach the Fightin’ Irish.  Maybe he was just holding out for the right job?  Such as this Head Coaching position with the Lingerie Football League!

Cool
Virgin Galactic has launched their official site for the space travel, complete with Spaceship Two pictures and information on the roll out.  Never would have thought space travel (even of this kind) would be available to the general public in my lifetime.  Lifehacker had a number of cool informative posts the past couple weeks, including Fixing Your Relatives Computer, Guide to Avoiding Online Scams, and the Most Popular Top 10s’ of 2009.

Funny
I read three comics online; Order of the Stick, Dilbert, and xkcd.  I’m particularly fond on one of the Dilbert comics from this week, because it’s how I feel at my job sometimes.
Another one from this week that really hits the mark is this one regarding the use of FAX machines.  As for xkcd I have to give some love to ‘Daylight Saving Time‘.  Looking for a last-minute gift for a friend or loved one?  How about, How to Date a White Woman or the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book?  All these and more really do exist!  If you are single and looking for a Russian Mail Order bride one of the companies involved has started to compare them to celebrities!  Now you too can date a girl that sort of looks like Jessica Beil!  Just make sure you ask them these 10 questions from Deadspin before you ask her to marry you, it will save you a lot of heartache.  And lastly, now that you got your celebrity look a like wife, it might be a good time to reflect upon those stupid things you did when you were young and might regret someday…

Videos
My website is currently sponsored by Bitch Slap The Movie!, in theaters: January 8th, 2010!

If you know anything about the movie, commercial, or TV show business you might find some humor in this.

I love reading Maximum PC and listing to their podcast, I love this video someone put together from Gordon’s rant of the week regarding the Apple Tablet.

And last but not least at all, the Space Shuttle is awesome and this high quality video of the STS-129 launch is worth spending 15 minutes to watch.

STS-129 Ascent Video Highlights from mike interbartolo on Vimeo.

Oh and Merry Christmas!

By the way, GO TROJANS!  That was an awesome 28-7 beating of the Bruins!

UCLA Sucks!

What better way to celebrate what we are thankful for than to watch the USC Trojans beat the UCLA Bruins?

Proud USC Fan.

We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving at my in-laws, and then on Saturday we are going to cook our own turkey at the house.  Not much else going on.  We did get baseboard put in living room, dining room, and hallway a couple weeks ago, things are really coming together with the house.  We will be having 2 Christmas parties at our house in December, one for my dad’s side of the family and one for my mom’s side of the family (which will include Kelly’s family at both/either of them).  It’s going to be a very busy December!  Work will be busy the first two weeks as well since I have to train new hires on high-speed online, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.  That’s about it from here so let’s see what I have to share this week.

Cool Food

Cheeseburger in a Can!

Have you ever been out camping in the wilderness and wished, “Boy I wish I could have a cheeseburger right now!”.  Well the wait is over, with the cheeseburger in a can!

Cool Stuff
When I was a kid I loved reading the various Choose Your Own Adventure books, I found this site that someone has analyzed all the books and has a bunch of data about them, with cool graphics and color.  It’s a pretty neat read if you loved those books as a kid.  Some more cool stuff, but in a much different way are these Civil War pictures (warning some of them are not for the faint at heart), I’d never seen this collection so it was an interesting look into battlefield.

Buying Stuff
If you are looking for the best cheap stuff to get for Christmas, check out this site called Cheapism that has reviews on cheap things.

Funny Stuff
Another weekly cool links and another great site to see pictures of people and go, what the fuck??  This weeks pick is Why the Fuck Do You Have a Kid?  You will be saying the same thing when you see this collection of pictures.  I’m sure a number of UCLA alumni are pictured on that site.

TV Stuff
Anyone that is both a sports fan and a fan of The Office will love this take on The Office done by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Videos

Everyone loves a douchebag.

Watch out for the Shiny Suds in your shower! (Loofah!  Loofah! Loofah!)

The best song of 2009 Show Me Your Genitals (NOT SAFE FOR WORK and people without a sense of humor)

Don’t miss his other great hits also on Youtube!  And you can purchase his songs on iTunes!

Bohemian Rhapsody, The Muppets Style!

You can buy a bumper sticker that says “Pray for Obama/Psalm 109″

This is what they are referencing:

8 May his days be few;

may another take his place of leadership.

9 May his children be fatherless

and his wife a widow.

10 May his children be wandering beggars;

may they be driven [d] from their ruined homes.

11 May a creditor seize all he has;

may strangers plunder the fruits of his labor.

via my friend over at his blog A Futile Mistake: Psalm 109.

I just can’t get over that people think this is right to say about ANY president regardless if you agree or disagree with him.

It’s sad that there are people like this, it’s scary that there are people so simple and uneducated to think like this and wish violence upon any one.  This isn’t a right vs. left thing, this isn’t a Democrat vs. Republican thing, this is just a group of ignorant fools…  Disagreeing with the current president isn’t wishing him dead.

Check out this video below, fast forward to 3:15 if you want to get directly to coverage about these stickers.

I’ve been on the Internet for about 14 years now.  I remember using the Mosaic browser, and even Lynx.  I’ve seen lots of trends come and go.  I’ve usually been close to the cutting edge when it comes to the “next big thing” on the Internet.  One of the biggest trends on the Internet lately is the number of people who claim they are Social Media Experts.  If there was ever a completely overused term for the 2009 version of the Internet it is this term.  From my observation those that claim to be social media experts are so just because they make the claim.  I’ve been on the Internet, interacting socially with others for years.  I’ve had various forms of blogs for 9+ years, used messengers, chat rooms, MMORPG, and etc. for years, thus my experience has to count for something, especially when compared to these people who all of the sudden claim they are the experts.

From my observation of the users of Twitter, just about 10% of its population claim to be a social media expert.  I find it humorous that so many people are claiming to be experts in social media.  First let us look at what Social Media is.  According to Wikipedia.

Social media is media designed to be disseminated through social interaction, created using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media supports the human need for social interaction, using Internet- and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues (one to many) into social media dialogues (many to many). It supports the democratization of knowledge and information, transforming people from content consumers into content producers.

What you are reading right now (my blog) is a social interaction, it’s highly accessible at a domain that I’ve owned for 9+  years, and it’s scalable since I can easily expand upon it.  I allow social interaction, by the way of comments, which allows others to add their input to the information I share, and I’ve become a content producer because of this.  So if I read this definition correctly, I’ve done everything “social media” is for nearly 9 years, which in turn would probably make me an expert in the field.  How many other social media experts can claim this much experience?  Don’t answer that question it’s not really important.  I guess my main point is what makes someone an expert in their field?  In most fields it comes down to experience (hands on actually doing it day in day out experience) or certifications (book knowledge but no actual usage).  I don’t know of a Social Media Expert certification so it comes down to experience.  Experience isn’t having a couple thousand followers on Twitter, anyone can honestly do that, with a couple minutes of work a day.  I have only 160 followers on Twitter because I’ve chosen the path of not automatically following everyone that follows me.  This is an active decision I’ve made because I like to communicate personally with the people who follow me.  The creation of lists on Twitter appears to be my chance to finally expand my followers-base.  I can no separate people I follow into those that I want to personally communicate on a whatever my time frame is basis, and those that I just want to disseminate content to.

I wasn’t looking to actual make a point, just share my thoughts on the current state of Web 2.0 and the Social Media Expert explosion.  This is Daniel Schoonover Social Media Expert extraordinaire saying, don’t sell yourself short, but also don’t oversell yourself.

I’m not the only one to have ever said this.  Open Press Wire has a great article about it as well.

Fight On!

We will always have the USC Trojan song girls to cheer us up.  Terrible loss by the Trojans this weekend, but honestly I didn’t think this team was as good as some of the last couple teams we’ve had.  The defense was very suspect this week.  Here is to bouncing back.  Looking forward to UCLA in a couple weeks, maybe we can continue their winless Pac-10 streak…