Torchwood is ... well ... boring

So I've been waiting for quite a while to see the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood, and now I finally get a chance on Comcast Ondemand (did I mention ... I hate Comcast). And guess what? Torchwood is kind of boring. The show doesn't make much sense, it really lacks aliens, is somehow devoid of the rampant sex it was advertised to have and well, is everything that Doctor Who isn't (in a bad way). I think the key problem is that the Doctor Who character is much more interesting, nuanced and complicated compared to Captain Jack (played by John Barrowman). Not that Captain Jack is a bad character as such, but he works much better as a sidekick or secondary character rather than a driving force. Instead, Torchwood, through the first 3 episodes, comes across as a sort of dull, British X-Files, but without the Mulder-conspiracy drama. I'm hoping the show gets its act together more, but otherwise I'll just be waiting until November when Season 3 of Doctor Who comes out on DVD (or 2012 when Season 3 of Battlestar Galactica comes out ... or thats when I expect it will come out, if ever).

Return of the SHRIMP

Palo Alto is hot.

Zircons are hotter.

Damn you clay minerals

If I hear about kaolinite or smectite in auriferous gravels again, I will get very mad.

Otherwise, the geology dept. field trip was fun ...

A two TIG reviews:
The Aliens (former Beta Band members) - Astronomy for Dogs
Fred Astereo - Don't Break My Heart

My current iPod Top 10:
1 The Opposite of Hallelujah - Jens Lekman
2 Pussy'ole (Old Skool) - Dizzee Rascal
3 Once and Never Again - the Long Blondes
4 Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco
5 Girls and Boys in Love - Rumble Strips
6 Stop Wearing Purple - Gogol Bordello
7 Mikrofonprofessor - Die Fantastischen Vier
8 The Heinrich Maneuver - Interpol
9 Geld Essen - K.I.Z.
10 (Bloody Paw on the) Killfloor - Busdriver

While doing research for the seminar I will be leading here in the fall quarter, I discovered the tagline for Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York is ...

The next Pompeii is an eruption away.

Good times!

Let's pretend that didn't happen.

Did I mention how much I dislike Derek Jeter?

To make myself feel better, I'll post a picture of Jacoby Ellsbury.

New two TIG reviews! The first is reeeal good, the second is so-so.
Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
Arctic Monkeys - Favourite Worst Nightmare

Enjoy!

Bam Pow Ugh!

Today's game might have been one of the biggest sucker punches I've felt since the '04 ALCS. 8-7 Yankers after a 7-2 lead. Ugly. We'll bounce back, but it definitely hurts the confidence.

Apple Rules

Sorry all you Windows enthusiasts, but Apple rules. They just gave me a shiny new MacBook to replace my iBook after all my logic board problems. It is packed to the gills with features like a 120GB hard drive, dual layer DVD/CD burner, 1 GB RAM and a 2.6 GHz Intel processor. All for free! Like to see Dell do something like that ... trading in a 3 year old iBook for a new new new MacBook.

If anyone wants a spare power adapter for an iBook, let me know and I'll send you one!

Cologne Photos

Here is the beginning of my photos from Cologne ...

A nerd-centric blog post

OK, hold onto your hats fellow nerds ... a number of things have me very excited:

1. Apparently, the BBC has greenlighted (greenlit?) a Ripper TV show/movie. Yes, we will get to see Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher from BtVS (duh), solve mysteries as he comes out of retirement. After seeing Anthony Stewart Head in Season 2 of Doctor Who and on Little Britain, I am very excited to see him on his own show.

2. James Marsters, otherwise known as Spike from BtVS, will be appearing in Season 2 of the Doctor Who spinoff, Torchwood. Now, seeing both Marsters and Captain Jack (played by John Barrowman) in the same show will (hopefully) be something.

3. "Episodes" 1-5 of Season 8 of BtVS (sadly, only in comic book form), will be released as a graphic novel in November. I find it odd that I can't really bring myself to buy comic books, but if its bound as a "graphic novel," its AOK!

That's all the nerd news.

Here is another new review, too. Enjoy!
Rufus Wainwright - Release the Stars

More Finn Pics

I've added to my Helsinki set ... enjoy!

Another review

Another TIG review ... and more trip pics soon.

Stereo Total - Paris-Berlin

New Reviews

Two new TIG reviews of albums I like a lot:
Architecture in Helsinki - Places Like This
New Pornographers - Challengers

And a new iPod top 10:
1 Pussy'ole (Old Skool) - Dizzee Rascal
2 Jack the Ripper (Demo) - the Horrors
3 The Heinrich Maneuver - Interpol
4 Heart It Races - Architecture in Helsinki
5 Magic Position - Patrick Wolf
6 Da Mystery of Chessboxin' - Wu Tang Clan
7 Failsafe - New Pornographers
8 Daydreamin' - Lupe Fiasco
9 The Smell of an Artist - Cats on Fire
10 Arms - Seabear

Helsinki Photos

By popular demand, here are some photos from Helsinki. More to come once I rotate/fix some ... but here are some good ones.

Helsinki, Finland in August 2007.