Hi all you loyal readers who have waited since April 1 for this update. I had a busy summer workwise and it was all I could do to keep up with Twitter, Facebook, the now defunct HeroesARG(more on that later) and my personal life. Anyway, Thanks to Sheindie for plugging me enough to remind me to write a new post.
First the Good - Life is great, the little one started Kindergarten, the kids are back in school and doing well I may add, and work is busy! Apparently us lawyers are always needed no matter what the economy deals us. Some other things that made my last few months a little happier are 1) The high quality GN's produced by Oliver Grigsby, Jason Badower, Jim Miller, Denis Calero and the other fabulously talented staff at the Heroes headquarters. 2) Congrats to Oliver Grigsby and the Mighty Foz for getting married this summer (not to each other Mr. Literal.) and 3) Thank god for summer shows like Royal Pains and Wipeout which have gotten me through the past few months and 4) Wii Sports Resort. Anytime my 5 year old can beat me at a video game, I praise the programmers who have clearly made a game the entire family can enjoy. Abby is the best fencer this side of the WII verse.
Now the Bad - 1) Sadly HeroesARG, a wonderful fan website which also graciously allowed me to pontificate on graphic novels, post fan fiction, and write my one question column, has decided to close the site. I fully understand the demand the time of hosting a site has and I certainly don't blame them but I will miss it both from a writing standpoint and hearing about the various Heroes events and fans. I met some nice people on the site and hope that we will find a new place to exchange opinions and thoughts. I especially like that they were mostly spoiler free.
2) Prince Fielder and the Milwaukee Brewers doing the planned Home Run Bomb (he hits a home run, steps on home plate and the team which was gathered around home plate falls down like an explosion hit.) It was tactless, out of form with the spirit of the game and quite frankly I don't know what a middle of the pack team with no hopes of playoff appearances is doing getting all excited over a home run or a win. I might understand it if it was a big game or a rivalry or something but they beat the Giants who although in the wild card race, really isn't that big an accomplishment; 3) My in-laws still live with us and the place we thought we might buy for them jacked up the price (got a higher offer) which we couldn't match. Anyone know a cheap mobile home in southern california? and 4) My daughter's hip hop class plays the new version "Right Round" by Flo Rida. Ok this may be a good song to dance to but did the instructor listen to the lyrics? It is a class of 5 year olds for crying out loud!
Now the ugly - I admit I watch reality TV and am fascinated on what the internet did to turn average people into stars. Three examples have left bad tastes in my mouth. First 1) Perez Hilton v. Demi Moore. Perez Hilton is one of the people whose fame comes from being a flamboyant blogger and putting his version of the National Star into blog form. Some of it is true, some is speculation and some is carefully crafted. I personall agree with Demi Moore that Perez crossed the line with the butt cheek photo of her daughter and his comments thereon. I wouldn't go as far as she did in the titles she called him but he certainly showed that he has no taste, no morals and quite frankly no talent. He further aggravated things by threatening Demi Moore that she would hear from his lawyers. How ironic and brazen of Perez as a blogger who makes his living saying horrible things about people all the time without regard for truth would threaten to sue someone who blogged (or tweeted) something about him that he didn't like. Get over it and get a thicker skin. This is not the first time that Perez has pissed someone off with his diatribe and then acted like they were jerks for even being upset. Get a life Perez. 2) Tila Tequila v. Shawne Merriman - This is a true example of everything that is wrong with the internet. First it began when Tila Tequila aka Tila Nguyen, a self proclaimed artist decided that being half naked on myspace would get her fame and fortune. For this I applaud her as she showed her business accumen by turning her myspace page into a high rated website that landed her a bad, bad bad reality show "shot at love" and some other 15 minutes of fame. However, good internet doesn't always translate to a career since you actually have to have the talent, character and accumen to maintain a career. With her 15 minutes winding down, she had to go and use Twitter to make vague allegations and threats to Shawne Merriman over an incident which may or may not be true. If I were her attorney, I would have told her to be absolutely silent until the case was heard. This is not to say that Shawne Merriman is any better. His Twitter sins began earlier this year when he posted a video response to Chad Ochocinco's comments about him. I don't know about you but this video was like a thug threatening someone rather than a well thought out retort. Then the team bans tweeting from the clubhouse so he has to step outside the clubhouse to tweet. Finally, whether he is right about what happened or Tila is, he got involved with Tila. This is a millionaire football player and he picked the skanky Tila to be his girlfriend? There are so many better choices than someone who clearly has an eye for the press and would do anything to stay in the spotlight. bad choice Merriman. Prove yourself on the field this season and leave the off the field antics for others.
Ok, to end on a good note, i saved some good things for last. 1) Barenaked ladies' free show in Chicago at the Taste of Chicago was a kick ass show and restored my faith that they can carry on without Steve (although I missed him on a few of the songs). 2)The Taste of Chicago was wonderful (but fattening) and we had a great time. 3) Dinner at Hank's Steakhouse in Green Valley Ranch with old friends was awesome. There is no better steakhouse that compares with them in service, food quality, atmosphere and staff. Also, there may not be a hotter looking staff!
Thats all for now. In the immortal words of John Henson (wipeout) and my 5 year old, Good night, and Big Balls.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Happy April Fools
If you have been directed here then you are the victim of my April Fools Joke!!!! Enjoy your day!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Odds and Ends
Some odds and ends which have been on my mind.
1) Mr. Bourdain continues his hypocritcal attacks on the commercial chefs such as Rachel Ray. For someone who constantly puts down the mainstreen tv chefs, he is always on Top Chef, talk shows and promoting no reservations. I have never understood why people have to put down others instead of positively supporting them, or keeping quiet. Rachel Ray is not a competitor of his. In fact, their audiences are vastly different. Yet, he keeps making comments about her. Glad to see she took the high road with the latest barrage.
2) Who keeps putting Elizabeth Hassleback on TV. I saw an ad for her QVC show and she had the most hideous giant bow on her top. Her TV persona is so narrow minded and dumb as a post that she gives Jessica Simpson a run for her money. The sad thing is, I think her real life persona is a lot more intelligent than she lets on. She reminds me of a lot of religious flock members who are told to quote certain passages from the bible but when you respond with a counter quote, they can't handle it and start to panic.
3) Congrats to Frank @heroesarg for the birth of his child.
4) My four year old told me something was hilarious. It is so cute hearing her say that word.
5) The Padres have exactly 1 week to begin turning around a mess created by John Moores and his wife. When we approved the baseball stadium a few years back, Mr. Moores made a commitment to be competitive and to try to make deals to improve the club. His idea of such deals were to sign aging stars to 1 year deals and draft crappy players rather than those represented by Scott Boras who, by the way, has contributed strongly to ruin baseball by allowing his clients to be jackasses and greedy. I am sure Scott is smart and he obviously makes tons of money but the message he sends to our kids is that contracts are meaningless and the dollar is more important than winning and image. Thats no excuse for the Padres to pick Matt Bush with the number one pick. I think that might be worse than the Chargers selecting Ryan Leaf. At least some people argued Leaf could be a number 1 pick, no one believed Bush was worth it. further, Leaf at least played at the professional level, Bush didn't even make it through 2 whole minor league seasons. Crikey, he imploded before even reporting to his first assignment.
6)Obama and his administration have done nothing to help the individual. none of the programs have had any effect on the economy or the individuals who are losing their homes. I don't care if he has a near perfect NCAA basketball bracket. He should spend more time implementing programs that give people jobs now, money now, debt relief now rather than providing money to banks, auto companies, and insurance companies without requiring that the money be used to help the consumer. All that AIG money was wasted on bonuses and administrative middle and upper management and all the bank bailout did was allow the larger banks to get larger and the reduction in competition so that bank fees will go up.
7) In equal opportunity ranting, the Bush family has spent 12 of the last 20 years ruining the economy and personally profitting, both directly and indirectly off of the war efforts and the oil prices.
8) Lost was good on Wednesday but I know somehow instead of Sayid changing history the PTB will make Sayid responsible for Ben's path of darkness as the island resurrects Ben and puts him into the others' camp. ben will now blame Sayid for setting him on the path. You simply can't change the past.
9) Bryan Fuller brought an edge back to Heroes with the recent Cold Snap. Loved Tracy's wink with her body shatterred all over the garage. I do have a couple of gripes. 1) Micah is rash acting and I don't buy that he is Rebel simply because Rebel has a much better grasp of life. 2) Danko would never leave Tracy's body, however shattered. He must know of the possiblity that she could reform. After all, he has dealt with water people before.
10) I will miss Daphne and Brea Grant. Brea brought a fresh look to the show and her approach to her powers combined with her convincing portrayal of someone who was given a second chance on life by getting her legs back and with the added bonus of speed.
ok. back to work.
1) Mr. Bourdain continues his hypocritcal attacks on the commercial chefs such as Rachel Ray. For someone who constantly puts down the mainstreen tv chefs, he is always on Top Chef, talk shows and promoting no reservations. I have never understood why people have to put down others instead of positively supporting them, or keeping quiet. Rachel Ray is not a competitor of his. In fact, their audiences are vastly different. Yet, he keeps making comments about her. Glad to see she took the high road with the latest barrage.
2) Who keeps putting Elizabeth Hassleback on TV. I saw an ad for her QVC show and she had the most hideous giant bow on her top. Her TV persona is so narrow minded and dumb as a post that she gives Jessica Simpson a run for her money. The sad thing is, I think her real life persona is a lot more intelligent than she lets on. She reminds me of a lot of religious flock members who are told to quote certain passages from the bible but when you respond with a counter quote, they can't handle it and start to panic.
3) Congrats to Frank @heroesarg for the birth of his child.
4) My four year old told me something was hilarious. It is so cute hearing her say that word.
5) The Padres have exactly 1 week to begin turning around a mess created by John Moores and his wife. When we approved the baseball stadium a few years back, Mr. Moores made a commitment to be competitive and to try to make deals to improve the club. His idea of such deals were to sign aging stars to 1 year deals and draft crappy players rather than those represented by Scott Boras who, by the way, has contributed strongly to ruin baseball by allowing his clients to be jackasses and greedy. I am sure Scott is smart and he obviously makes tons of money but the message he sends to our kids is that contracts are meaningless and the dollar is more important than winning and image. Thats no excuse for the Padres to pick Matt Bush with the number one pick. I think that might be worse than the Chargers selecting Ryan Leaf. At least some people argued Leaf could be a number 1 pick, no one believed Bush was worth it. further, Leaf at least played at the professional level, Bush didn't even make it through 2 whole minor league seasons. Crikey, he imploded before even reporting to his first assignment.
6)Obama and his administration have done nothing to help the individual. none of the programs have had any effect on the economy or the individuals who are losing their homes. I don't care if he has a near perfect NCAA basketball bracket. He should spend more time implementing programs that give people jobs now, money now, debt relief now rather than providing money to banks, auto companies, and insurance companies without requiring that the money be used to help the consumer. All that AIG money was wasted on bonuses and administrative middle and upper management and all the bank bailout did was allow the larger banks to get larger and the reduction in competition so that bank fees will go up.
7) In equal opportunity ranting, the Bush family has spent 12 of the last 20 years ruining the economy and personally profitting, both directly and indirectly off of the war efforts and the oil prices.
8) Lost was good on Wednesday but I know somehow instead of Sayid changing history the PTB will make Sayid responsible for Ben's path of darkness as the island resurrects Ben and puts him into the others' camp. ben will now blame Sayid for setting him on the path. You simply can't change the past.
9) Bryan Fuller brought an edge back to Heroes with the recent Cold Snap. Loved Tracy's wink with her body shatterred all over the garage. I do have a couple of gripes. 1) Micah is rash acting and I don't buy that he is Rebel simply because Rebel has a much better grasp of life. 2) Danko would never leave Tracy's body, however shattered. He must know of the possiblity that she could reform. After all, he has dealt with water people before.
10) I will miss Daphne and Brea Grant. Brea brought a fresh look to the show and her approach to her powers combined with her convincing portrayal of someone who was given a second chance on life by getting her legs back and with the added bonus of speed.
ok. back to work.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Paris and Mickey and Goofy, Oh My
Well, my oldest stepson and my wife are off to Paris. The 14 year old boy is off to winter drum line and his girlfriend's for a week, and I am ready to party with my 12 and 4 year old girls. WOO HOO. Yesterday, it was California Adventure, Tomorrow Disney and today, after the dropoff at the airport it was pizza and popcorn and movies. Fun stuff bonding with the girls.
Whats new? A very busy week catching up on work after moving the office. Add to that a short week, a stressed out family due to the impending travel and the third week with the inlaws living with us, you can imagine how good it will be to just sleep.
I had my first two comments this week, keep em coming. Wish I had a follower though.
Published my Heroes GN 129 review on (shameless plug) HeroesArg.com. Check it out.
Trying to get someone to respond to me about getting a fundraiser started for a charity I am working with to help schools support their music programs in three ways 1) donation of money for equipment and fee offsets, 2) raising money to publish music instruction videos and provide sample instruments for students to tryout or use during the lesson and 3) Putting on shows at schools designed to get the children interested in music. I really was hoping to find a semi-celebrity or better to perform at a benefit concert or to write a song we can charge 99cents per download for and raise money that way. Or for memorabilia. Any help would be appreciated so let me know if you can help.
Until Next Time.
Whats new? A very busy week catching up on work after moving the office. Add to that a short week, a stressed out family due to the impending travel and the third week with the inlaws living with us, you can imagine how good it will be to just sleep.
I had my first two comments this week, keep em coming. Wish I had a follower though.
Published my Heroes GN 129 review on (shameless plug) HeroesArg.com. Check it out.
Trying to get someone to respond to me about getting a fundraiser started for a charity I am working with to help schools support their music programs in three ways 1) donation of money for equipment and fee offsets, 2) raising money to publish music instruction videos and provide sample instruments for students to tryout or use during the lesson and 3) Putting on shows at schools designed to get the children interested in music. I really was hoping to find a semi-celebrity or better to perform at a benefit concert or to write a song we can charge 99cents per download for and raise money that way. Or for memorabilia. Any help would be appreciated so let me know if you can help.
Until Next Time.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Ups and Downs
Up - Business is starting to improve
Down - My Wife was just laid off. Anyone in Inland Empire have a job to offer!
Up - Baseball Season is starting soon.
Down - Padres will likely have a bad season.
Up - House was good last night, How I met your mother was good too.
Down- No Heroes.
Up - New Heroes GN came out and was well written. (WE LOVE YOU JIM MARTIN)
Down - As much as Micah Grunnel is very talented, I don't like the way he draws faces.
Up - My plan to send vouchers to every individual that they can use for paying off loans on cars, houses, student loans or to purchase new cars or new homes, that way the money will still get to the banks and lenders and auto companies but the people will have less debt and own a home, car, etc. Banks would have more money and less outstanding debts so they could lend again.
Down - The fat cats in Washington will never do it because the lenders don't want that to happen.
Thats all for today's ups and downs. If you like my idea about vouchers, spread it around, maybe we can get the government to consider it.
Down - My Wife was just laid off. Anyone in Inland Empire have a job to offer!
Up - Baseball Season is starting soon.
Down - Padres will likely have a bad season.
Up - House was good last night, How I met your mother was good too.
Down- No Heroes.
Up - New Heroes GN came out and was well written. (WE LOVE YOU JIM MARTIN)
Down - As much as Micah Grunnel is very talented, I don't like the way he draws faces.
Up - My plan to send vouchers to every individual that they can use for paying off loans on cars, houses, student loans or to purchase new cars or new homes, that way the money will still get to the banks and lenders and auto companies but the people will have less debt and own a home, car, etc. Banks would have more money and less outstanding debts so they could lend again.
Down - The fat cats in Washington will never do it because the lenders don't want that to happen.
Thats all for today's ups and downs. If you like my idea about vouchers, spread it around, maybe we can get the government to consider it.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Someone has to say it
I enjoy Twitter. I even enjoy all the celebrities who are on Twitter and tweet away. I prefer the ones who are real as opposed to the ones whose managers or assistants do the tweeting but I still like the fact that we are handed some insight into the celebrity personal thoughts. That said, I have a serious problem with people who post over 100 tweets in a 15 minute period whether they are celebrities or not. I know I don't have to follow them all and with the magic of Tweet Deck I can bury them somewhere where I can read them later but come on people, save some room for the next tweeter. I logged on last night to 200 new messages from my 62 people I follow (of which some have barely posted a tweet). Of those 200, 180 came from 2 sources! And most of those were personal conversations between a handful of tweeters.
Enough of a Rant. I will miss Heroes tonight, But I have a new House to watch!
More later.
E
Enough of a Rant. I will miss Heroes tonight, But I have a new House to watch!
More later.
E
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
My first blog
So, I'm not a movie star, or a star athlete, or a professional critic but what I am is a lawyer, father to one, stepfather to 3, Heroes GN Commentator on Heroesarg.com, tweeter at sdlaw@twitter.com, armchair quarterback, fantasy baseball guru, 40 something, opinion giver.
You may not like my opinion, but heck, thats why we have 1000000000 or more blogs to choose from. My goal is to update this weekly with whatever I find interesting or my cause of the moment. If you care to hear my daily rumblings check me out on twitter, facebook (eric siegler) or myspace (look me up under erics123@aol.com). Otherwise, maybe let me know how you like my blogposts or if there is anything you want me to talk about.
To start, I want to talk about one of my favorite shows Heroes. despite the ratings struggles, I think they Heroes producers are doing an excellent job on the show. The actors are amazing me with their ability to portray characters which, to be quite honest, have powers we just can't fathom, and still come off as characters to whom we can relate. Credit this 50% to actors like Greg Grunberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Paniettieri, Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, etc.. If I left someone out, it is because there are just too many quality actors and actresses to list them all. The other 50% goes to the producers, writers, propmasters, crew, etc who together provide the excellent story, sets, props, and editing to get hundreds of plot points, hints, clues, secrets, and story lines across in 40 minutes of air time per week, 22 times a season.
As for the ratings and critics, I really hope the networks and advertisers realize that they no longer can rely solely on ratings. With DVR/TIVO so prevalent, internet web replays of full episodes available within 10 hours of airtime, and the fact that the ratings households are no longer representative households, it becomes harder to judge a show by the ratings alone. Heroes gets a lot of DVR play. I rarely am home on time to watch it. Often, if I am home, I watch less heavy fare first so that I can end my day with Heroes. Knowing that it is available on the internet, I sometimes will watch it on my crackberry. I know many people who watch Heroes on G4 so they can get the commentary.
Morale - Pay no heed to those closet Neilson homes which is a narrow and outdated technique to rate shows and pay more attention to DVR tracking, Downloads, web participation and the mass amounts of internet time and space devoted to this great show!
You may not like my opinion, but heck, thats why we have 1000000000 or more blogs to choose from. My goal is to update this weekly with whatever I find interesting or my cause of the moment. If you care to hear my daily rumblings check me out on twitter, facebook (eric siegler) or myspace (look me up under erics123@aol.com). Otherwise, maybe let me know how you like my blogposts or if there is anything you want me to talk about.
To start, I want to talk about one of my favorite shows Heroes. despite the ratings struggles, I think they Heroes producers are doing an excellent job on the show. The actors are amazing me with their ability to portray characters which, to be quite honest, have powers we just can't fathom, and still come off as characters to whom we can relate. Credit this 50% to actors like Greg Grunberg, Milo Ventimiglia, Hayden Paniettieri, Adrian Pasdar, Jack Coleman, etc.. If I left someone out, it is because there are just too many quality actors and actresses to list them all. The other 50% goes to the producers, writers, propmasters, crew, etc who together provide the excellent story, sets, props, and editing to get hundreds of plot points, hints, clues, secrets, and story lines across in 40 minutes of air time per week, 22 times a season.
As for the ratings and critics, I really hope the networks and advertisers realize that they no longer can rely solely on ratings. With DVR/TIVO so prevalent, internet web replays of full episodes available within 10 hours of airtime, and the fact that the ratings households are no longer representative households, it becomes harder to judge a show by the ratings alone. Heroes gets a lot of DVR play. I rarely am home on time to watch it. Often, if I am home, I watch less heavy fare first so that I can end my day with Heroes. Knowing that it is available on the internet, I sometimes will watch it on my crackberry. I know many people who watch Heroes on G4 so they can get the commentary.
Morale - Pay no heed to those closet Neilson homes which is a narrow and outdated technique to rate shows and pay more attention to DVR tracking, Downloads, web participation and the mass amounts of internet time and space devoted to this great show!
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