Friday Night... Dead People?

I was driving home today and thought of one of my favorite quotes, which is oh so applicable right now: "Lois, I am obligated to keep loving you, so I will take my rage out on my own body. Let's go to Denny's."

I'm not going to Denny's. But instead of talking about what I want to talk about, I'm going to be smart. Let's talk about TV. I don't watch a lot of it. When I say that my favorite show is House, that's pretty much because it's the only show I watch regularly. (The other possibility is Venture Brothers, which isn't even on reruns at the moment - if you have no idea what VB is about, get out from under your rock and watch it on DVD or YouTube. Any show that combines a license to kill, Chupacabras, cloning, necromancers and David Bowie is pretty bound to be awesome. Or crap. But this one is awesome.)

Anyway, my TV is about 14 inches wide and I'm too lazy/cheap to go out and get a new one. Even so, when I saw a commercial about a new series that starred Jeff Goldblum, I was drawn to it like (dare I say it?) a fly to... okay, I just wanted to make a "The Fly" joke. Give me a break. I'm not really paying attention to what I'm typing.

Jeff Goldblum seems to raise a lot of emotion in the "I actually remember when Jurassic Park came out in theaters and wasn't being played on TNT every night" crowd. You either love him or you hate him. I get it. Being someone who is very attracted to the tall, dark, geeky type, guess which category I fall into?

The new series is called "Raines" in which Jeff Goldblum plays a cop and it's actually very decent. Not House or Venture Brothers, but pretty darn good. Jeff mumbles as he is wont to do, but it just lends credence to the premise, which is actually clever. He sees dead people! But they're just figments of his imagination, which is the better part. And he's kind of a jerk, which apparently is just the sort of guy I like to watch but not be in the same room with.

I fully expect it to be canceled of course. Although it's not on FOX, which is the kiss of death for 99% of the shows I like, it is moving to Friday nights after a mere 2 weeks on Thursday. Probably not a good sign. But give it a chance while it's on, if for nothing more than some 90s nostalgia. Then I'm sure some horrible new CSI spin-off will take it place. Ugh.

Oy! Still Dancin' Along

Since the Prof. has practically announced me as dead, I thought I would prove my very much alive-ness. I really haven't had much to say actually, as I've been living in Brief Land (not as sexy as it sounds) and then Lazy Land (exactly as sexy as it sounds), but here I am, now in Oral Argument And Scare Me To Death Land.

Eh. I exaggerate. Not that scary, I guess. I was in mock trial in high school and theater in college. I'm used to making a fool of myself, both in front of lawyers and in front of my friends. After wrapping my legs around a strange guy and planting a big kiss on him in front of my mother and my fiance in a particularly badly written play, not much phases me.

Still, when the barrister asks me a question, I feel like I'm in that tap dance scene in "Chicago" where Richard Gere is struggling to make his case. Except I took tap 14 years ago, when I was 8. For a year. And instead of pretty, distracting girls around me, I have people hitting me with big signs saying "she don't know a thing". And apparently, I develop a Midwest accent when I'm nervous with a sinus infection.

The good news is that my heinous sickness has drained all competitive spirit out of me. You might ask why this is good news. Well, considering Valerie and Sarah are still talking to me after I went against them today, that's pretty good for me. Heh. And you think I'm kidding. Wait 'til I get over this darn cough.

Pluckers

Since Jon's working during Spring Break, we're mostly sticking around Waco. However, we're going to have to make a trip down to Austin this coming week. Yeah, yeah... we have friends there. Whatev. But the much more pressing matter is that we must have at least one meal in the new Pluckers on South Lamar.

If you haven't been to Pluckers, you're completely missing out. Best. Wings. Ever. Jon and I are often challenged on this point but we've never conceded. Also, if you like alcohol but don't like beer like me, you must try the Pluckers Lemonade. It's awesome when they make it right and you can order it in huge mugs. Perfect for say... after turning in a brief you've agonized over for weeks.

Anyway, Jon and I have been to every Pluckers in Texas (there's one in Baton Rouge which we would have to make an effort to get to... someday, someday.) We desperately need one in Waco, but until then, we'll make trips to Dallas or Austin.

*The picture is of my friend Chase at the Dallas Pluckers. They don't do the brown-bagging the beers thing anymore, but it's an awesome picture from TX/OU weekend 2005 and the only one I have of any Pluckers. Congrats to Chase for getting into my blog.

Homework? What?

So despite doing far less work this weekend than I should have done (hello, library for the rest of the week), I plan to watch the Oscars tonight. I have seen all of 7 of the nominated films (out of about 30), and none of those that actually matter. I've seen the ones nominated for stuff like "Best Sound Mixing". I know you're jealous. But I really don't have any interest in The Queen or Notes on a Scandal (although I do think Judi Dench is fabulous, so I might force myself to watch it one day). I think that Best Actress should go to Kate Winslet for the simple fact that this is her 5th nomination and still she has never won. And Meryl Streep, as much as I enjoyed The Devil Wears Prada, really doesn't deserve it. She has enough. But that doesn't matter because Helen Mirren will get it.

Does anyone else find the current British royal family utterly boring? Give me Elizabeth I any day.

But I'm going to watch it anyway. Ellen DeGeneres is always a delight because her high energy is of a rare breed that doesn't tire me out just by watching. I watched Jon Stewart last year and he struggled so much with the dead audience that I really felt for him. (Although when he finally got so frustrated that he went off the teleprompter, I was cheering for him.) I hope that Ellen doesn't struggle as much. We'll see.

What I really look forward to is the fashion. Sandra Bullock didn't get enough kudos for her beautiful gown last year, and Michelle Williams got way too much. (Really, canary yellow is daring, but you didn't even notice HER in that dress. I'm sure Vera Wang was okay with that, but Michelle shouldn't have been.) We'll see what ridiculous/splendid choices people make this year.

I don't think that I'll post my reactions to the winners or the fashions. Speculation is far more fun. Unless someone shows up in a dead swan dress or Marisa Tomei wins a write-in Best Actress Oscar. Then I'll have to make rude jokes.

The Greatest Speech of All

Congressman Lewis gave an excellent speech today. He went through things that I cannot imagine. As my mother always said, "You can't know what it was like. If you weren't there, there's no way you can really know. Nothing can compare." But if I could go back in time for just a day, it would be to hear this speech. The man had a gift. And at the risk of sounding corny, I am happy that people like Congressman Lewis keep Dr. King's message alive. It's one that we should never forget.

So Are You?

The answer for yesterday's question:

She was hoping the guy would appear at the funeral again.

If you answered this correctly, you think like a psychopath. This was a test by a psychologist used to see if one has the same mentality as a killer. Many arrested serial killers took part in the test and answered the question correctly.

So, do you have the mind of a serial killer? Carver does. But then, so do I - when I told the friend that sent this to me that I got the answer she was more freaked than I would have thought.

Something tells me that this is simply a logic problem and therefore, most law students would answer correctly. On the other hand, perhaps it is an accurate measure of serial killer pathology. I doubt it, but draw your own conclusions.

In other news, Anna Nicole Smith's baby is officially having the worst life ever. Quite the record at 5 months old.

My Favorite? "Astro-nuts"

I'm always fascinated when the public scrutinizes psychological testing. How many times during my undergrad years did I have to defend my choice of a psychology major? Too many to count. The usual charge was, "Psychology is not a science!" Well, not an exact science, no. But it's not astrology either. Psychologists use the scientific method and they use controls and everything else for their experiments that any other scientist would use. So I would argue and I would lose, simply for the sake of being outnumbered.

And then, someone like, say, an astronaut goes nuts and tries to kill her "romantic rival". Then the government starts putting tremendous pressure on psychologists because, after all, shouldn't they have seen this coming??? It's one way or the other, kids. Decide if you want it to be an exact science or not and commit.

So could they have predicted Nowak's breakdown? I don't know. I do know that if they subject these people to psychological testing (and I can't imagine why they wouldn't), it's probably so comprehensive it would make your head spin.

Here's something that my friend sent me awhile back:

A woman, while at the funeral of her own mother, met a guy whom she did not know. She thought this guy was amazing. She believed him to be her dream guy so much, that she fell in love with him right there, but never asked for his number and could not find him. A few days later she killed her sister.

Question: What is her motive for killing her sister?

I'll post the "answer" later. I don't believe that it actually is a true test that psychologists use, but maybe I'm wrong. We'll see.