Walking Dead Shocker

OK, so Dexter was a bit bland last night, but The Walking Dead certainly did not disappoint!!!

*** SPOILER ALERT ***

I don't know how things can go from normal to chaos so quickly, but I guess to should really expect that during a zombie apocalypse.

Long story short, someone opened the gate, walkers got into the prison, and all hell broke loose.  I was sad to see T-Dog bite it, or I guess I should say get bitten.  I hope Carol managed to escape.

The biggest shock of the night was with Lori.  Of course she would have to go into labor in the middle of all the chaos.  And of course the birth could not go smoothly.  So it was up to Maggie and Carl to perform an impromptu Cesarean on the mom-to-be, who sacrificed her life for the baby.  she actually didn't really have a choice.  I mean, if the baby had died inside of her, it just would have turned into a zombie and eaten its way out.

As fate would have it, it was up to young Carl to put the final bullet in his mom's head in order to prevent her zombie resurrection.  Happy Mother's Day!

I'm surprised I was able to get to sleep after all of that drama.

I really should watch some more feel-good shows.  Maybe I'll watch "Little House on the Prairie" re-runs all week.

Off to Charlotte

It was a pretty dismal weekend for college football.

At least from my perspective.

And no, I don't want to talk about it.

It's Sunday, and I'm preparing to leave tomorrow morning for a week working in Charlotte, North Carolina.  It's been over a year since I've been there, so I'm pretty excited, although it's going to be an exhausting week.

I hope I can get to sleep tonight.  New episodes of "Dexter" and "The Walking Dead" will probably get me cranked up.

In keeping with the ghoulish October theme, I saw "Paranormal Activity 4" yesterday afternoon.  What a waste of time and money.  You have been warned.  That franchise has definitely jumped the shark.

Yesterday wasn't a total waste though.  After getting my biweekly haircut downtown, I had breakfast with Andrea and Raymond, two former coworkers.  It's been over a year since I saw the both of them, so it was great catching up.  Time really flies.  It's so weird reconnecting with people who you used to see on a daily basis.  Everyone's lives evolve in such different ways.

Until next time, have a great week everyone!!!!

I'm Back

Hello, readers.  After a long summer hiatus, I'm finally back to my personal little blogosphere.  I've finally reached my 300th post, so I'll try to make it count.

I've been all over the place since my last post, from South America to Broadway, but for the most part it's been a nice relaxing summer at home.

Shortly after my trip to Sunset Beach, I headed down south for some fun in the sun.  I don't think I'll ever get tired of Central America.  Panama is my new favorite country, aside from la France.

August brought about work changes.  Familiar faces in new places.  I'm with a lot of my old BF buddies here in Charleston.  Miss my banking buddies heaps but I'm managing to keep in touch.

Labor Day was my annual pilgrimage to the U.S Open.  I had day session tickets for the first time, and caught some great matches.  Woz, Fed, and Serena.  I didn't stay around to watch Serena because I had to haul ass into the city to see Cirque du Soleil Zarkana.  It was quite a freakfest, and not to be missed.

This year's Broadway selection was not as eventful, but seriously, what could top getting Kristen Chenoweth and Sean Hayes autographing my Playbill?  Certainly not Harry Potter singing.  Stick to wizardry.  I'm fairly certain that I was the only person obsessively checking the score for the South Carolina game on my iPhone in the theatre that night.

Yes, football season is finally here and it's been up and down.  The Cocks are doing OK, losing only one game so far, but our best player was knocked out for the season last week.  It's going to be a rough second half.  To make things even worse, Clemson is still undefeated.

I'm happy to report that "Dexter" and "The Walking Dead" are back, the latter premiering last night.  My Sunday nights are now complete.

Even more exciting, I just found out that there is a 5K Zombie run/obstacle course coming up early next year.  It looks like a blast, and several of us are going to make the road trip to the backwoods of Georgia.  Check it out at http://www.runforyourlives.com/.  Good family fun.

G'day 7

Roddick and Sharapova are both out!  Stop the insanity!  It's really a shame too.  This was probably Maria's best chance to nab another major.  I can't help but think that these two are approaching the end of their careers.

At least I have a few favorites left going into the second week.  Rafa, Novak, Vera, Caroline, and Kim are all still alive and kicking.  If someone could please knock Murray and Roger out, I would breathe a little easier.

I can't believe it's time for another Monday.  This will be a full week, so it's even extra depressing.  Me thinks it's time to start planning that European vacation, just so I'll have something to look forward to.

I had the wildest dream last night.  It was a combination of "The Walking Dead" and "V."  I was back in Atlanta, and smack dab in the middle of, you guessed it, a zombie apocalypse.  It wasn't very scary though, I was always one step ahead of the undead, and navigating downtown like he native I used to be.  It was extra cool because I'd just bought a condo in my old building, so the adventure began with me escaping down 21 flights of stairs and down Baker Street.

After hooking up with a posse of roller-blading survivors and counterfeiting 100,000 Euros on an HP printer, we escaped to New York City, briefly finding sanctuary along the way in the freezer of a Hardee's.

We finally arrived in the Big Apple, and Anna, leader of the Visitors, announced from up above that she was responsible for the creation of the undead.  Apparently she had succeeded in her evil scheme to find a way to remove the human soul, which resulted in the zombie creation.  Unless we promised to live under her rule, she would zap the remainder of the human race.

I know, I know, it must seem like I'm obsessed with zombies.  I have no idea why I'm not capable of having more normal dreams.  Even the occasional naughty dream would be better than this wacky crap.

Another weekend down...

Well, once again Monday has quickly arrived, spoiling my enjoyment of a nice weekend.

I've just now recovered from the horrible disappointment that was the SEC Championship game.  For those of you who have not yet heard, Auburn trounced South Carolina.  It was not pretty.  It's not how I wanted to end out the regular season, but I'm trying to stay focused on all the positive accomplishments made by the Gamecocks this year.

Beating Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, and Clemson.  Making it to Atlanta for the first time.  I'm sure they'll be back, and the next time hopefully they'll perform better.

Actually, South Carolina be returning to the Georgia Dome a little sooner than expected.  That's right, they've been invited to play in the Chick-fil-a Bowl on NYE.  Certainly not the Sugar Bowl, but I'm all for Chick-fil-a...

Last night was the next to the last episode of "Dexter".  In short, Lumen managed to get herself snatched by Angelina Jolie's ex, and Dexter was snatched by the naughty cop Quinn had stalking Dexter.  In the end, Dexter ended up disposing of the creep.  Quinn will be next if he doesn't watch out.

Next week should be excellent.  I'm not sure if Lumen will survive, but the previews made it look like Deb catches Dexter in the act of offing someone.  What a teaser!

I'm very disappointed that "The Walking Dead" is over for at least 6-9 months.  Last night's episode wasn't too eventful, unless you consider the CDC self-destructing eventful.  Damn computers.  Just because the emergency generators are running out of fuel is no reason to destroy an entirely good building.  The head doctor and one of the original ladies from the camp remained behind.  The rest of the group escaped just in time. On a related note, not that I'm an uber-genius, but you would think that someplace as advanced as the CDC would have invested in solar energy and not be reliant on tanks of fuel in the basement.

I'm not sure where they're headed now.  Maybe they can make it to Hartsfield-Jackson International, grab a plane, and make it to Paris.  That's apparently where the really smart scientists were making progress towards a cure.  Could be worse places to end up.  Very fashion-forward zombies there, I'm sure.

Dexter

I'm already getting depressed that the season finale of "Dexter" is quickly approaching.  It just keeps getting better and better.

In all of my years of watching this show, this is the first time that I'm really seeing Dexter as a human being.  Still a serial killer, but still human.  Even his courtship and marriage to Rita didn't come close to what's currently going on between him and Lumen.  The schoolboy look on his face every time he's around her is priceless.

So the dynamic duo finally tracked down the remaining bad guy last night and Lumen did the deed by offing him.  Apparently that was a big turn-on for both of them, because they ended up sleeping together.  Different strokes for different folks, as numerous relatives of mine would say.  Now they only have Jordan Chase to take care of.

Nancy Drew, I mean Deb, is piecing together that a former victim turned-vigilante is now offing the victims.  I'm very interested to see how Dexter and Lumen avoid being discovered.  My instinct tells me that Lumen can't stay around for long though.  And I'm really starting to like her.

My favorite serial killer show was followed by another excellent episode of my favorite new zombie show.  Next week is the finale, so I'll have to do without at least until next summer.

The latest episode dealt with the bloodbath aftermath and the group leaving camp.  One of the guys was bitten by a zombie, so they're taking him to the CDC.  Seems like a logical move since they're in Atlanta.  Unfortunately, he wasn't taking the ride very well, so he requested to be dumped off along the road.

When they finally reached the CDC, it appeared that there was a lone survivor holed up inside.  The ending saw him opening up the doors to let the group in just in time to avoid zombie attack.  Nice move.

So that's it as far a TV goes.  Just another manic Monday.  I'm still working technically, but just thought I'd take a break to update my blog and count down the days until the cruise.  Because I'm dedicated like that.

Sunday Viewing

Despite the fact that Sunday evenings are depressing in that they are the final day of the weekend, they have become by far the best night of the week for TV viewing.

New Jersey salon workers, serial killers, and zombies.  I don't know which are scariest.

I watched "Jerseylicious" for the first time in weeks.  I was not disappointed by the sheer ridiculousness of their misadventures.  The highlight of the episode surrounded Olivia finally realizing her dream of getting a boob job, and then freaking out right before the surgery.  Chicken.  Cutlets.

"Dexter" was pretty ho-hum for the majority of the episode.  That little brat Astor was back and stirring up trouble.  The Hallmark moment of the night came when Dexter professed fatherly love for the wayward pre-teen and they both made nice.  I was getting seriously upset that no one had been slaughtered.  Luckily, the episode ended with Angelina Jolie's ex-husband (Jordan Chase on the show) calling the old house.  Lumen answered, Jordan left a tell-tale "your life is ticking away" message, and then gave away that he knew who she was.  Apparently, Dexter wasn't sneaky enough when he stole a blood sample from the necklace inside Jordan's gym locker.

I realize how crazy my brief recaps must sound to anyone unfamiliar with the show.  All the better reason to tune in, people!

"The Walking Dead" was awesome as usual.  The group made it back to Atlanta, got their guns, but then got into a serious rumble with another group of survivors.  We later found out that the new group was not a random street gang, but survivors and workers from a retirement home.  Sweet --- the old people lived!!!

Unfortunately, while all of that was happening in the city, the zombies were secretly approaching the other country camp.  The episode ended with flesh-eating mayhem.  Rick and the group arrived back just in time to get in on the action and shoot all of the zombies.  Alas, it was too little, too late, and some of our favorite characters (whose names I had not even had a chance to learn) were eaten.

Two more episodes left, and then it's wait until fall for Season 2.

On the bright side, I just saw that "Nurse Jackie" is filming, so at least there will be a suitable replacement.  It's like the circle of life, TV program style...

Aside from TV, it was a pretty shitty Monday at work.  I hope everyone else had a better day.

Monday in N.C.

Greetings from Charlotte, the Queen City of the South, where I will be spending the next 5 days of my life.  I got an early start this morning, so I arrived in the office a little after noon. 

En route, I had the pleasure of dining at the Chick-fil-a in Rock Hill, South Carolina.  The manager was going on and on about Saturday's South Carolina-Florida game, and how we should have a really good chance of beating Auburn if we can just manage to inflict a slight concussion on their quarterback.  Classy!  I'd hate to see what he does to fussy customers.

I'm in my hotel room now.  I just finished the ironing, and am trying to stay awake for a few more hours before crashing.  Of course I'm ass-tired because there was entirely too much quality television on last night.

"Dexter" is becoming quite juicy.  Cole was the latest victim of Dexter and Lumen's twisted vengeance.  I honestly thought the two of them were going to have sex after plunging a knife into the fella.  Which would have been gross.  But there if definitely mounting chemistry between the two.  Will the writers allow Dexter to find true happiness or companionship?  I doubt it, but it certainly takes away from the whole Trinity-just-slaughtered-my-wife pity party.

The aftermath of last week's club shooting resulting in Debra being thrown under the bus by LaGuerta.  Batista is saying he will back Deb and help set the record straight, going against his wife.  That probably will not go over very well at home, but the bitch has it coming.  Gauntlets have been thrown.

My newest favorite show, "The Walking Dead", did not disappoint either.  The group from downtown Atlanta safely made it back to the other camp.  Whew!  I was worried.

Deputy Rick was reunited with his cheating wife and their son, who were part of the Stone Mountain survivor group.  What a coincidence it all turned out to be, but I'm letting that slide.  Unfortunately the reunion was short-lived, because Rick decided that the drug-addicted racist they left handcuffed to the top of a building needed to be rescued.  Screw that.   They also wanted to get the firearm stash Rick dropped when zombies attacked his horse back in Episode 1, so I suppose the return trip really was warranted.

It know, it all sounds so ridiculous, but it plays out better on the small screen.  My narrative does not do it justice.  This really is the best show on TV, and the thought of only 3 more new episodes is already depressing me.

I should go back to watching trashy housewives on Bravo.  I don't get nearly as emotionally attached to them.  Sorry, NeNe.

I hope Sarah Palin's reality show, which premiered last night on TLC, was a flopp.  I'm encouraged by the news that 52 percent of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of her according to a recent Gallup poll.  There is hope afterall.

Happy Veterans Day

While I might not always completely agree with the politics or cause, I'm thankful for the sacrifice of those who serve.  At least we can all be united in that.  Happy Veterans Day!

In less serious business (my specialty), it's Friday Eve and I couldn't be more excited---unless it were Christmas of course.  As usual my mind is focused on food, and on beginning the weekend with a good binge.  Decision, decisions.  Fire up the fryer, Sally and Danielle!

So for my thoughts of the day:

• I'm happy to hear about the cruise passengers finally making it safely back to shore.  As recounted in my last post, been there, done that, so I've enjoyed commiserating with some of the stories.  At the same time, I just keep thinking that, at the end of the day, everyone should be thankful that no one was harmed.  I mean honestly, there have been maritime disasters in which the victims would have gladly traded air-conditioning in exchange for spared lives.  Perspective. Don't make me post Celine Dion as my Video of the Day
• I watched the second episode of "The Walking Dead" last night.  I cannot stress enough how EXCELLENT this show is.  There are only 6 episodes in the season, but I hear they've already renewed it for a second.  What does it say about me that my current favorite shows are about zombies and serial killers (Dexter).  I'm normal, honest.  They're just so unexpectedly gripping. 
• 7 hours of conference calls today.  Approaching a record.
• Today I had a talk with a friend who has found a lot of happiness recently.  Which makes even a grinch like me smile inside.  Sometimes it just makes you feel so good to share and be a part of the joy others are experiencing.  I guess that's what friendship is about.  Ugh, I sound like a greeting card.

On that note, I'll sign off before I ruin my snarky image.

Sunday Slug

My entire Sunday afternoon was spent in a catatonic state on the couch watching TV.  From afternoon until bedtime.  I'm too embarrassed actually count the hours and say aloud.

I finally got around to watching the premiere episode of "The Walking Dead".  I actually thought it was quite good.  A bit slow at times, but necessary for background and buildup.  The scene where the deputy guy was in downtown Atlanta and trying to escape the zombies by crawling under a tank was the only thing that got me on my feet all afternoon.  Maybe by next weekend I will learn the character names.

I'm not sure if I'll continue watching this show as it's on AMC.  Luckily that's offered on Comcast On Demand, so there may be hope.

I've abandoned "Jerseylicious" for the past few weeks, but caught the episode where Alexa the Tit Fairy takes Olivia, Tracey, and Gigi to Houston for a Glam Fairy wedding.  Yes, I know it sounds ridiculous.  And it is.  But I still recommend watching this.  If only for the fact that there are grown women who go through life selling their services as "Glam Fairies".  I'm sure they'd be selling something no matter what.

Last night's episode of "Dexter" was excellent as always.  The latest revelation was that Angelina Jolie's first husband, playing the motivational speaker worshipped by the now-deceased Boyd, was part of the gang that tormented Lumen.  As it turns out, all of the bad guys were high school friends.

That's just weird.  I thought I grew up surrounded by strangeness, but my friends and I ran cross country and took Advanced Placement classes.  There was no kidnapping of blondes and placing them in barrels.  I guess I had a more normal childhood than I previously suspected.

There was more Santa Muerta drama, as the sting to catch the two brothers in da club resulted in a big shootout.  Deb popped a cap right in machete guy's head, so all was not lost.  LaGuerta is going to be in some hot water though.  Is my hood-speak convincing?

I still haven't figured out what's going to happen with her (LaGuerta), or creepy Irish nanny for that matter.  Creepy Irish nanny is leaving religious idols around the house to watch over Harrison.  Poor lady has no idea, that baby does not have genetics on his side, so it's going to take a lot more than that to keep him on the holy straight and narrow.

Thanks to the time change, I'm still a bit off-schedule, so I was unable to stay up for the Housewives at 10 pm.  It's just as well, I lost entirely too many braincells to television yesterday.  I'm sure I'll have dozens of opportunities to catch up as Bravo is notorious for repeat episodes.  Andy?

Peace out, homies.