The New Year

A new year has rolled in since the last time I posted. A New Year, a New President(!!!) and LOST is back on TV. So far, so good.

We spent the weekend in Houston, getting to celebrate the marriage of two of our friends. "A great story of perseverance," is one of the quotes I heard describing the groom's courting of his bride. They were beautiful, and we had fun toasting to the new married couple. Lots of dancing with little kiddos and skirting questions of our future little ones.

I wish I could show off the beautiful bride, or the happy groom, or the adorable kids our friends have, but unfortunately, I learned a crappy lesson this weekend. Don't go 6 months without backing up any of your photos, because Murphy's Law states, "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." It may not be immediate, but eventually, Murphy will catch up with you. Someone picked up our camera with way too many pictures stored on it. Hopefully it was an accident and it will be returned soon, but I have a sinking feeling that our fun little Casio is long gone. I guess we'll find out in the next few days.

I've signed up to volunteer with SXSW for the first time and tonight I'm heading down to the volunteer call to see what positions are still available. So, we'll see....it's been 5 years since I've worked a festival and I don't know if anything can live up to Sundance, or Cannes before that, but I'm looking forward to being around the artsy types again.

Fact Check!

We now have less than a month until our nation elects new leaders. But before you cast your vote, either during early voting or on November 4th, PLEASE go spend some time on Fact Check. There has been so much spin put on every statement that every candidate says and every ad that has been put out there. I've heard a lot of misleading half-truths and without doing a little bit of reading, you could be voting for someone with whom you don't really agree. Be an informed voter, and find out the truth behind the candidates' statements, voting records, health care plans, and visions for our country.

And after doing all your research, sit back and enjoy these videos.

Olympics

As much as I am loving watching the Olympics every night till 11pm or 12am, I am so ready for the closing ceremonies. I've barely gotten any sleep over the past two weeks! I seriously love watching all the events, hearing all the Olympians' stories, and cheering on the USA team and many fellow Longhorns. I'm going to miss watching the gymnastics, swimming, diving, beach volleyball and all the others until London 2012.

New Toy

Our computer has been acting funny ever since I turned it off the other day during a lightning storm. And I haven't been able to download my pictures from the LA trip yet. So, in the meantime I have to tell you about my favorite new toy.

Rachael and Hagan got it for us for Patrick's and my birthday and it's amazing! The Roku is the Netflix TV set top box instant player. So anything that you can instantly watch on Netflix on your computer, we can watch on our TV without having to do some crazy wiring hookup. I've been able to watch Showtime's This American Life (love Ira Glass), some of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival shorts (makes me want to go back) and the first feature film I saw on it was The Business of Being Born (started lots of thinking/discussion.)

I give the Roku two enthusiastic thumbs up!

Funny Valentine

Candied Sweet Potatoes, Asparagus, and Strawberry Chipotle Pork Tenderloin

Our Valentine's evening consisted of a beautifully put together dinner, Shiraz-Syrah from Dry Comal Creek Vineyards and deciding to plop down in front of our TV so that we didn't miss Lost. Perfect evening!

Bird Watching

The Kitties love watching Planet Earth on the new TV!

Eight Days...

Eight days until we leave for Houston for Christmas. Tree is lit and ornaments are hung. Gifts are all purchased, and all there is left to do is wrap them.

Yesterday, I came home to find our answering machine blinking. I press the play button, but all I hear is static. So, I go to adjust the volume and try to get it at that perfect spot where the speaker doesn't crackle and I'm not blown away by the decibels. It keeps cutting in and out and all I can decipher is that an order has been declined because of something having to do with the credit card information, like an incorrect number or date or something. When I try to play it back, I accidentally erase it. I guess I wasn't supposed to hear a message relating to my Christmas gift. Luckily for Patrick, our answering machine is a piece of crap.

After trying to listen to the message, I went down to the gym to go run. And since I sometimes try to time my workouts around Scrubs reruns on Comedy Central, I was able to catch one of my favorite episodes: The Scrubs Musical.

Strike!

By now, I'm sure you have heard about the WGA strike. If you haven't, well, I'm not sure what lonely island you have been on, but all you have to do is tune in to one of the late night talk shows (Letterman, Leno, Daily Show, etc...) and realize that they have been playing repeats all week long. These are only the first shows to be affected on air by the strike. For many others shows, only half their episodes have been completed and for some, production has been completely shut down.

Check out this great site to get more information on why TV writers are striking: United Hollywood. It's all about the internet and new media. They should get paid for the work they do. Period.

Support the WGA!

Next on...

Just another show that I'm sad was cancelled. We finished the last Arrested Development DVD yesterday. Near the end of the series, they start making references to the series being cancelled:

George Sr.: I don't think the Home Builders Organization is going to be supporting us.
Michael: Yeah, the HBO's not gonna want us. What do we do now?
George Sr.: Well, I think it's Showtime. I think we have to put on a show during dinner."

Also when the Narrator blatantly says, "Now that's a clearcut situation with a promise of comedy. Tell your friends."

I feel bad that I didn't watch this show when it was on, that I didn't get a chance to support a show that is so much better than anything else that has been on network TV. So, since I missed the boat on this one, are there any other groundbreakingly good TV shows out there right now? We already watch The Office - well, I watch as Patrick nervously paces in the kitchen.

Anything new? Old? What series should we Netflix next?