Wood Beez

After waiting for more than 20 years I finally got the opportunity to see Scritti Politti in concert. Though Scritti was a fringe group during the new wave invasion of the '80s the undeniable sound of Green's voice made him one of my favorite artists.

It was a rare opportunity to see him perform his music live as he has dealt with a lot of phobias which hampered any kind of touring for previously released music. He has a new album out now (which I was able to purchase at the show) and is currently on tour in America and Canada. If there are any of you out there that want to catch him in concert you can check out his site or Ticketmaster to find out if he's coming to your neck of the woods.

All I can say is that hearing him perform Wood Beez in person was 70% magic and 30% nostalgia. It was the best $30 that Karen and I have spent in a long time...

The Halloween Treat

After all these years of keeping our Knott's Scary Farm tradition, this year we thought we'd try some lighter fare. I still like the event better at Knott's than I did at Disneyland but nowadays a good night at the Halloween Haunt consists of 2 rides and a maze. The lines are so long that it almost takes the fun out of it. As usual, this event is only as good as the company you keep, and with most of our friends now in possession of children, its definitely off their list of things to do - sigh.



In any case we bought our tickets for the Disney event a while ago. Neither Karen and I knew what to expect but I'm not surprised at the turnout. It was definitely less crowded and more family oriented. The California Adventure park was decorated nicely and unlike Knotts you could wear a costume if you so desired. There were a lot of families in full regalia.



The big theme this year was pirates - seems there is no originality when it comes to movie tie-ins. After about the 38th Jake Sparrow, I quit counting. There was more dreads and ruffly shirts than you could shake a stick at. We had fun with the friends we went with and got an opportunity to ride the new Tower of Terror. Though I'm a bit timid about heights and being dropped to the ground in elevators, it was a great ride and we rode it twice. All in all, it was a good night, now we have something new on our radar to take our kids to...

Pugtoberfest

Every year Karen and I try to attend one of Daisy's favorite events; Pugtoberfest. We've been going now for the past 5 years and every year we continue to see the event grow and get better. Its always fun for us to see all the pugs, in or out of their costumes - plus, the event supports one of our favorites causes - Pug rescue.



This year the event very successful and we could see that attendance had grown from the previous year. There seemed to be a lot more interest in the costume contest with many more elaborate get-ups. This year we saw "Count Pugula", Pugvis and Evil Pugneivel. Though Daisy didn't get to participate I don't think she missed it much, she really doesn't like getting all dressed up anymore.



We had something to eat, hung around and watched the costume contest, walked Daisy around to meet some new friends and then we left. It was a lot of fun and the best part was that half of the rescues got queued for adoption. We're already looking forward to next year...

What's in your DVR?

One of the more interesting trends this fall season is the "musical chairs" of actors/actresses being shuffled around from network to network. Last year's wife is this year's spy, last year's spy is this year's uncle and nephew... Have we run out of new talent to put to work, or does primetime television have a stable of set players? Its a little distracting to say the least, especially if you were invested in some of the previous iterations of new characters. In spite of it there are some shows that we're trying and some that have already been thrown out... Here's how we see the new fall landscape:

Heroes - Everyone knows I dig the superhero mythology and so far they haven't screwed up the premise. I would recommend it.

Studio 60 - Sorry folks Chandler will always be Chandler - can't stand him and can't stand the show.

Men in Trees - I'm out but Karen is giving it a go

Jericho - Anything with the runner-up, Johnny Depp (Skeet Ulrich), probably won't be worth watching. And nuclear isolation? Come on now - I'm out.

Lost - Still in

The Unit - Still in

The Class - Out

How I met your Mother - Still in

Brothers and Sisters - A possible replacement for Everwood, I'm willing to give it another week.

Desperate Housewives - Still in, though, maybe not for much longer

Dexter - While this is a Showtime only gig, I can't think of another show that has captured my interest to this degree in a long time. In spite of the subject matter (who doesn't love serial killers?) and the general creepiness (which I love) it is a well written show and has huge potential. I'm defnitely in.

Weeds - We both love this show - another Showtime series. The only thing that Irks us is the meager season.

Grey's Anatomy - We've been pulled into another medical drama, but this one may supplant all time leader ER. We have yet to see...

And there you have it - the content lying dormant on one HD DVR unit. Anyone have any suggestions? And no, we won't give Ugly Betty a run, it was dumb in spanish and I'm sure it will be bad in english. At least in while it was in Spanish it could take melodramatic license to another level...