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.

Back from Europe

Well, I made it back from Europe in one piece, no thanks to hell-on-Earth aka Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport. Anyway, I'll have much to say soon, but I'll preview with a random pic. More to come later ...

Erik in Europe, Part 1

So I'm currently sitting on the floor in the Dusseldorf airport waiting to go to Helsinki and I thought I would point out a few things already:

1. My blogger account is showing all the instructions/menus in German.
2. My iBook has decided that this is an excellent time to start having logic board problems ... again! Luckily, I got approval to teach a Freshman Research Seminar, which comes with $1500 that I can spent on a computer, which I will be doing (unless Apple gives me a shiny new one because my iBook logic board, between the two they've given me already, has failed SIX TIMES).
3. I tried to buy a cheap mobile phone and could not get my phone card to work with it. I have no idea if I'm just an idiot, or AT&T are a bunch of liars or maybe the girl I bought it from in the airport was just confused, but I gave up. I just left the phone with the confused girl because I didn't want to drag around a phone that I couldn't call the US with, and who am I going to call in Germany? That's 10 euros (~$15) down the drain.
4. Speaking of down the drain, I am currently paying $10/hr to access the internet here at the airport.
5. Being in Germany marks the first time I've been in a country where I don't speak the language (considering I speak only Spanish and English). I do not like it at all. For one, I feel like the Ugly American when I have to admit to only speaking English. Two, I feel completely confused by very many things. The airport at least has signs in English and German, but the episode with the phone was an utter disaster.

Hopefully Helsinki will be more forgiving ... now, I think I will "Post Veroffentlichen" this post.

So It Begins...

I leave tomorrow morning for my trip to Finland and Germany. The Finnish portion is merely for fun, the German will involve a conference, but conferences are always sort of fun, so its all good. It would give me some time to not think about this or at least attempt to not think about it).

I've packed my iPod with about 20 episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus along with 2 episodes of James Burke's excellent Connections. I have all sorts of goodies on my laptop, but I don't think the battery is what it used to be. Hope Delta is showing something interesting on my flight from Atlanta to Dusseldorf. Then I'm off to Helsinki where I plan to visit a fort, frequent record shops, buy a soccer jersey and try to see what I can see. I'll try to post pictures when I can ...

New Top 10

Busy with preparation for my meeting in Cologne and my trip to Helsinki next week. I'm hoping to be able to update with pictures while I'm in Europe ... we'll see.

Here's my current iPod top 10:
1 "Pussy'ole (Old Skool)" by Dizzee Rascal
2 "Jack the Ripper" (Demo) by The Horrors
3 "The Heinrich Maneuver" by Interpol
4 "Fast Car" by Xiu Xiu
5 "Heart It Races" by Architecture in Helsinki
6 "The Magic Position" by Patrick Wolf
7 "Da Mystery of Chessboxin'" by the Wu-Tang Clan
8 "Illustrate the History" by BOAT
9 "They Got Away" by Built to Spill
10 "Failsafe" by the New Pornographers

Passport Saga, Part 3

My passport arrived today! My faith in government has returned, albeit a faith based on persistent nagging, intervention of congress and extreme stress. Does that count?

Radium!

I got radium data today! Huzzah! Take that Becquerel!

Oh yes, new TIG review too...

Chemical Brothers - We are the Night (Hint: I trash it).

KG makes Papi look small

This amuses me. New Celtic Kevin Garnett makes Big Papi look like a little man.