TV and then some

Watching enough tv this weekend:

The news’ broadcasting of Lt. Gen. Sanchez’s press conference of the capture Saddam Hussein in Iraq kept repeating Sanchez’s use of the phrase “spider hole” to describe the location in which Hussein was hiding. Today, Slate.com’s “Explainer” explains what the heck is a “spider hole.” Interesting explanation.

Slate.com also has a nice article on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” a.k.a. that show that Charlie Sheen and John Cryer are on, with the time slot after “Everybody loves Raymond.” I thought the article was on target. I have actually caught myself watching an episode of “Two and a Half Men,” and expected it to be below average; after all, I still saw Charlie Sheen as the one who lowered the standards on “Spin City.” However, imagine my surprise when I actually found myself laughing at some of the jokes and watching for the full half hour (granted, I may have been waiting for the 10:oo news). Hmm. Charlie Sheen isn’t so bad when playing a character with whom he seems to identify (there were moments when his character was reminiscent of the Sheen of the gossip pages). But, the series’ writing still seemed weak and one is left wondering if it could be just a little more original. (I haven’t watched it in a long while, so the spoiler in the article about Cryer’s on-screen wife was surprising – but not by much, since Friends on NBC has already done a similar storyline). But, tv shows that are considered “average” can manage to stay on the air; lucky for them, I guess. I still miss “Boomtown” and its challenging elements.

Last night’s “Survivor” was, as usual, riveting. I haven’t really followed it very much this season, but felt very much caught up by watching the last episode. Host Jeff Probst was as sharp as ever, and the “cast” was quite a bunch of crazies. The cast reunion in the third hour wasn’t too revealing, but I thought it was especially unsurprising that Mr. Savage was the contestant who was an attorney in real life, considering the way he analyzed everyone’s strategies in response to Probst’ questioning; could he possibly be less… analytical? Ah, well; a good tv night.

6000 Years of Chinese sexual history

Move over Kama Sutra. http://msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id=3717283&p1=0

Interesting reading on the major portals. I find that MSNBC from the MSN homepage and Slate always makes for hilarious to amazing reading. Coupled with a healthy dose of NYTimes and Washington Post and Businessweek, you’re pretty much covered all around. No time for CNN, substitute MSNBC for CNN just for convenience sake. I also prefer the Newsweek articles over the TIME articles. TIME used to be so good 20 yrs ago but now it’s pretty pathetic. Newsweek is so much better I think.

I miss all the snow out there… makes for a really good holiday spirit.

Ho-ho-ho!
=YC