The Office is back!

The Office, my choice for the best show running, returns tonight after a several month hiatus. The writers are back, fresh off strike, and ready to write the next chapter in the lives of Michael Scott, Pam Beasley, Jim Halpert and the rest of the gang. The future looks bright for the NBC Comedy depicting a dysfunctional office held hostage by the antics of boss, Michael Scott.

Tonight’s episode entitled “Dinner Party,” portrays Jim and Pam worst nightmare, when they finally run out of excuses to avoid having dinner with Boss Michael and his girlfriend Jan Levenson. Needless to say, this episode appears to have all the makings of a classic.

Check out The Office tonight on NBC at 9/8 c  

‘American Idol’ Recap; Cook Rushed To Hospital

The American Idolettes sang guest coach Dolly Parton’s hits Tuesday night on “American Idol,” putting grumpy judge Simon Cowell in a particularly fowl mood.

Cowell was so negative in his criticisms of the contestants that at one point during the show Paula Abdul asked him if he hated country music and Dolly Parton.

Cowell responded smugly: “No, I love country music, but I expect the best out of the contestants and they are lousy tonight.”

Only three out of the nine remaining contestants received positive reviews from Cowell during last night’s show -David Cook, David Archuleta and Michael Johns.

Cook, who sang Parton’s “Sparrow,” was rushed to the hospital following his performance last night. The front-runner to win the competition -in my opinion- has has been suffering from high blood pressure and experienced heart palpation’s throughout the day, Fox.com reported.

Hopefully Cook will be OK, because he is extremely talented, and if weren’t for the boy wonder (Archuleta) and his panty waving posse, he and Brooke White would be the odds on favorites to win the competition.

As for who should get kicked off during Wednesday’s telecast, this one is a no-brainer. Despite the country theme playing to her strengths last night, Kristi Lee Cook doesn’t have the vocal prowess to compete with the other remaining contestants and needs to be voted off the American Idol island.

‘Idols Revisit Beatles Songs

“American Idol” contestants sang songs from the Beatles for the second week in a row Tuesday evening, but unlike last week the performances were mostly forgetable.

The songbook from the Fab Four was open again to the 11 remaining Idolettes for a show that opinionated judge Simon Cowell called “weird.”

“I don’t think they should have sang the Beatles again,” Cowell said.

The grumpy Cowell was in a particularly bad mood this evening, giving a positive review to only one contestant, David Archuletta.  Archuletta rebounded from a disastorous performance last week when he forgot the words to his song and will presumably resume his role as the front-runner to win the competition.

Irish las Carly Smithson didn’t appear to have a St. Patrick’s Day hang-over as she nailed her performance of “Blackbird.”

America will eliminate one more contestant during a one-hour episode Wednesday evening on Fox.  Former ‘Idol contestant Kelly Pickler will perform during the show.

Hernandez Gets Axed From ‘Idol’

America voted to eliminate former gay-stripper David Hernandez from “American Idol” during Wednesday night’s episode.

Hernandez became this year’s cloud of controversy on “Idol” when it was revealed by AP last week the Phoenix, Ariz. native formerly worked as a stripper at a gay club.

Kristy Lee Cook, the gorgeous blonde with an annoying country twang, was kept on the show despite getting horrendous reviews from the judges week after week.

Hernandez told his fans-we assume those customers who put dollars in his G-string that paid his way through college- his elimination from “Idol” isn’t the end of his singing career.

“You will see me at the top,” Hernandez said.

Arrival in Monterey, CA

I’ve made it to Monterey, CA to begin my year of service as a VISTA at the non-for-profit Housing Advocacy Coalition of Monterey County. My residence is in a home located in the sleepy fishing village of Marina just outside Monterey, CA. This is easily the most beautiful locale I’ve lived in as the ocean is just a hop, skip and jump from my casa.

To be honest, one of my worries before taking this position was what my housing conditions would be like. As a volunteer for the federal government I was at the mercy of my sponsoring organization on where I would live. Luckily my house is quite nice. I have my own bathroom and my room is the largest I’ve ever slept in.

Although I don’t start my job yet as a marketing and resource developer at HAC until next week, I’ve met some good people who share the idealist values I possess. After the L.A. disaster, it is a relief to see there are still people out there who, as corny as it sounds, want to make the world a better place.

Yes, in this year of taking some time to just study what is proving to be the bane of my entire existence -the LSAT’s- I could have done several things: Worked at a media organization; gone on the campaign trail for a candidate; or stay at home, raise money and substitute teach. But after only a couple of days I think I made the right decision in deciding to give back to the community of Monterey, my country and hopefully make an impact in someone’s life.

To say the least, this year will be full of challenges and rewards, both in what I accomplish and how I grow as an individual. I never thought I would have ended up working at a non-for-profit for less than minimum wage while living 30 feet from the beach, but God has a weird way of intervening. All I know is that 2008 looks like it’s going to be one special year.

A trip down candy cane lane

To my (2) readers of this blog:

I would like to apologize for once again lacking a commitment to my writing in this blog. These last three weeks have been a whirlwind of change and personal search that has left little time for writing -and anything else for that matter.

As you may (may not) know, I have accepted a job as web producer for a start-up music social networking site called Buzznet.com in Los Angeles. I officially live in Glendale, or as I like to call it G-dale, in an apartment with sparse possessions (I sleep on a portable air mattress).

Yes, living a minimalist life is difficult yet enjoyable at the same time. But the one thing that is truly driving me up the wall is the lack of internet in my apartment. HOW did we ever survive without wireless? Looking back on the first 18 years of my life it’s a miracle that I survived without wireless internet. It’s almost as if I was living in the Congo with a dangerous species of intelligent gorillas who were trying to kill me for 18 years until wireless internet came around and rescued me. (This brings up a good point: Whatever happened to that movie “Congo”? It seemed tailor-made to be an instant television classic….you know, one of those films they play in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday on USA Network. Someone should look into why USA is constantly playing “Weekend at Bernie’s II” and not “Congo”.

Anyway, I’ve done a ton of writing in the last 36 hours -because I know nobody in LA and am bored- on such issues as the false perceptions of Los Angeles, the new counter-culture, and why it would be ironic if Cosby died from eating poisoned Jello (OK, that last one isn’t true.)

Enjoy!!

My Take on Mr. Vick (aka Dog Killa)

If Michael Vick had a rap name it would be Dog Killa. His first album -The People vs. Mike Vick- would be a collaboration with Snoop Dog that would sell a few million albums based on the hit single “Doggie Gang (the ATL remix)”.

We live in a country that quickly forgets the crimes its athlete’s commit when it concerns drugs, abuse, or even conspiracy for murder. Yet, America will never forget, or forgive, the acts of number seven. Why, because we can’t imagine someone hurting a defenseless animal.

True, Vick’s acts are inexcusable, but are they any worse than when Ray Lewis was a conspirator to murder…of a human being. Or worse than Jason Kidd using his wife as a punching bag. Or Ron Artest beating up a fan. I don’t think so. All of these crimes should have carried the same severe punishment as the one Vick will surely receive. But, because of how these acts were perceived by society, and more importantly the media, Artest turned his thug image into a three album rap deal with modest outrage while Vick will never get the chance to release an album under Dog Killa.

The only thing I can hope is that the Vick case will result in harsher punishment for all acts of violence -on humans or animals- and that we won’t see any more exploitation by the rap industry to use acts of violence as a source of making “bling”.

Of course, there could always be the opportunity of Vick pulling a Pac Man Jones and having Dog Killa be a member of the WWE. Imagine what his finishing moves would be.

Contrite Vick apologizes after entering guilty plea – USATODAY.com

It Ain’t Nothing but a G-Thang

As I contemplate my life, and sending nasty profanity laden letters to the human resource departments of every place I have applied to and not heard back from, I realize life ain’t that bad for a g.

I am starting to come to terms and at peace with the fact that despite graduating with latin honors from the top journalism school in the country, nothing in life is a guarantee. Yes, I am aware the University of Missouri-Columbia has claimed a 100 percent job rate within six months of graduation. But, honestly, this is probably bullshit and it may mean people are taking jobs in Blackfoot, Idaho for $22,000 a year. I for one will not be living anywhere in Idaho unless I am making at least $50K. I also won’t take a job that has me sitting at a desk and uploading stories onto a website for eight hours a day. How often do we get to be 22? How often do we get to be single and find out what we truly want out of our lives? Then, how often we will spend working in an office?

I have never been comfortable staying stagnant. That means, I can’t stay in one place for very long and it means I have a hard time staying at one particular job unless I absolutely love it. To be honest, I have yet to find something I truly love yet. And, until I do I will continue grinding life out, living paycheck to paycheck until I discover who I am, what God wants me to do, and how I will live the rest of my life.

In two weeks, I make my move from Visalia to San Luis Obispo to live with David. It will probably be a brief segment of my life but should be an enjoyable one. My hope if to substitute teach, work at a winery or restaurant and enjoy the coast that I have missed for four years. Is it scary to live while only making $10 an hour, yes. Then again, its also entertaining… for now.

Top-5 Things I Learned About Texas

Have you missed me? Yes, you, the three readers of this blog. I know I have been AWOL the last week or so but I have very good reasons. First, I got food poisoning… f ing AppleBees. I will never eat at that crappy ass resaurant again. I am convinced they attempted to kill me because IHOP wants to sell off ther new purchase.

After spending a week straight detoxing myself the old fashioned way -puking- I then sent sail for the capital of Texas… Austin. Even though I am an official alum of Mizzou I still despise the Longhorns… and the entire state of Texas. Yet, I must admit Austin was pretty cool. They have lots of Tex-Mex and even more bars. Which is what I imagine Heaven will be like… Lots of good music with ritas and Chili Cheese Nachos with Chicken on top.

In honor of my trip to Austin here is a top-5 list of things I learned about Texas:

5.  Whataburger should be called Whata lousy burger compared to In-n-Out. Here is the thing, for four years I saw Whataburger commercials during Big 12 games and had to hear about how great Whataburger was from my freshman roomate Pete. Just like Pete, the place was a huge letdown.

4. In Texas you either are an alcoholic or a southern babtist. Texas has to be the only state in the union where you can be in a dry county one minute and then go to Austin where there are more bars per capita than any other city I’ve been in.

3. Real Tex-Mex is better than Chili’s Tex-Mex.

2. Burnt Orange Burns My Eyes. I walked into a University of Texas Bookstore on the campus of UT and realized why I hate the longhorns…burn orange. Its a tacky color.

1.  Don’t Mess with Texas. Seriously, people are freakin weird in Texas and they may hurt you with their gigantic trucks.

Weekly Discussion (July 20)

News: Due back in California on Aug. 15. At this point, I will be living in a tent on the beach which is both kind of sweet and also risky. I am hoping some ex-hippie doesn’t come and try to stay in my tent and convince me to listen to some Grateful Dead and smoke hashish.

Anyway, I really want to do a top-5 list, because who doesn’t love top 5 lists, on what I’ve learned since I graduated two months ago:

1. People Aren’t Nearly Good Looking in the “Real World” as in College: OK I am well aware that I am living in the armpit of the country right now where the current fad is to look like Larry the Cable Guy, but I don’t think that I am way off base saying college towns -and large cities- are where all the good looking people are at. Whenever I used to see all these surveys about how obesity is running rampant in our country I used to look around and wonder how more than half the country is obese. After living two months in Portales, NM I can tell you where they live.

2. Education Doen’t Matter When It Comes to Making $$$- Yes, more than likely the more education you have the more money you will make in your lifetime. But, here in farm country I have met people who didn’t graduate from the 8th grade and are worth millions.

3. BBQ is Awesome- Really it is.

4. You Have Much More Time On You Hands To Do Dumb Things When Not in College: I read a James Patterson book in two days during this week. That’s how bored I’ve become.

5. You Sleep More- I have always been the type of person who loves getting my 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night but while living the college lifestyle rarely did. Now, I usually get 8 to 9 hours of sleep no problem. This is one of the perks of being an unemployed college grad. Actually it is the only perk.

Sports: Who says the dog days of summer are boring for the sports world? We have  the second highest payed NFL player indicted on participating in dog fights (which always reminds me of the scene with the dog Killer in “Half Baked”) a basketball ref shaving points on games he reffed, and the home run record being broke by Barry Lucifer. Is anyone else ready for mock fantasy football drafts?

Music: David, I promise to review Matt Costa, but if he sucks I am going to rip him to shreds.

Books: Harry Potter comes out tomorrow -nuff said.