I was one of the over 106 million people who tuned in to watch TV commercials yesterday evening (surpassing the M*A*S*H finale as the most-watched program ever). I didn’t really care who won the game, though I had a mild affinity for the Saints. Good game — tough and close in the early going–it looked impossible to gain any yardage on the ground. Clean (except for the tussle after the brilliantly executed onside kick), hardly any penalties, no possession-changing fumbles, only one interception, strong defense, and exciting right to the end. The commercials on the other hand…not so impressed. The Betty White / Mars bar one made me laugh, and the geek in me appreciated the nod to Lost in a beer commercial, though I don’t recall which beer it was. I also picked out the actor who plays Marvin Candle in another commercial — you’d almost think it was ABC instead of CBS. And ho ho ho at Leno, Oprah and Dave.
The Who has never been one of my favorite groups. They have a handful of songs that I like a lot and other stuff I can barely stand to listen to. When I got my iPod a few years ago, I bought Live at Leeds and deleted it after a couple of times through. I did like their final album of the 20th century, which was released around 1982 (it had Emminence Front on it) and I stayed up late the night before my Christmas exam in Astronomy to watch the simulcast of their “farewell concert” from Toronto, probably that same year. My wife really liked their halftime performance yesterday. I thought it was just okay.
The image over yonder is the cover of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, edited by Jennifer Brozek. It contains my contest-winning story “The Fingernail test.” The book is scheduled for release on April 4, 2010. You can pre-order at a special discounted price from Apex Publications here.
The first episode of Undercover Boss was pretty good, though I think next week’s will be even better since it is the CEO of Hooters.
We watched Amelia this weekend. I had no idea that Amelia Earheart was married to G.P. Putnam (the publisher, later Penguin-Putnam) or that she had a fling with Gore Vidal’s father. Hillary Swank is good as Earheart, but there’s something crucial missing from the film. It all seems on the surface, without any real emotional depth. I liked Doctor Who’s Christopher Eccleston as Fred Noonan, though his part was small. Interesting in terms of history but not memorable as a piece of dramatic filmmaking, in my opinion.
I’m about 100 pages into Black Hills. Turns out the ghost inhabiting the protagonist is General Custer (if I’d read the dust jacket I would have discovered that earlier) and that the protagonist plans to blow up Mount Rushmore, which was part of his vision as a child.
