Kwik-E-Mart, Bladensburg, MD

Drove down to Bladensburg, MD to see the Kwik-E-Mart they converted from a 7-11 Store. Needless to say, it was pretty cool.
I got myself a Squishie and a doughnut with pink icing and sprinkles, mmmm.
I also picked up some Buzz Cola and Krusty-O's cereal which I'll post about when I try them.

Here are some of my more favorite signs:

A Night at the Wire 2007

HBO's The Wire is one of my favorite programs on television, and it's pretty cool that all production of the show take place in and around Baltimore. I was lucky last night to go to their final A Night at the Wire event thrown in support of the Ella Thompson Fund.
When we arrived, we had the chance to tour the soundstages for the fifth season shooting. We got to see the sets for the Western, City Hall and the Mayor's Office, and the new set for the Baltimore Sun news room. The props team showed us fake guns, drugs, and bodies, and in wardrobe, we looked at clothes for the Bunk, Brother Mouzone, and Marlo.
After the tour, we wandered around the silent auction items and grabbed some drinks. By far the coolest item up for sale was Omar's shank he used to castrate his would-be assassin from the last season. David Simon, the show's creator, clearly wanted this item, so I didn't have a chance in bidding.
The party was also really cool in that you could easily mingle with members of the cast. We got to see McNutty, Kima, Herc, Carver, Lester, Marlo, Snoop, Cutty, Rawls, Dukie, Rhonda, Levy. I talked to Clay Davis, Chris Partlow, and Landsman.
Clark Johnson, who was on Homicide and has directed a few Wire eps, was there as he has a role as the Baltimore Sun editor in the new season.
Some hints overheard about the new season were that Daniels will become Colonel, Sydnor is the last untouched and pure member of the unit by the end of the show, the Sun's Michael Olesker cameos, they shot some at the Washington Post recently, and Carcetti is going to make the run for Governor of Maryland.
The night ended with auctioning off of items like a speaking part on the show ($12K), Dinner with McNutty ($7K), Cookout with Kima and Bubs ($7K), Lester's doll furniture that Clarke Peters actually made, and an autographed box of Honey Nut Cheerios from Omar ($500). My friend, the Sunmonkey, got ticket to an O's game courtesy of Gov. O'Malley, right behind home plate. I hope he invites me.

Shameless Plugs

So did anyone catch this week on the penultimate episode of Heroes the reference to my favorite on hiatus NYC restaurant, Shopsin's? How cool was that?
It was mentioned by the character Matt Parkman played by Greg Grunberg who currently graces to cover of Geek Monthly published and edited by some friends of mine.

Hungry Like The Wolf

I could not resist posting this commercial of the man, Bruce Campbell rocking the Old Spice. It's almost like the anti-Tag/Axe, but honestly, I have no idea what Old Spice smells like much less anyone who uses it.

Chris Ware on This American Life

I love Chris Ware's comics, but he's now proving he's brilliant as an animator as well in this segment from this week's This American Life on Showtime.
The host, Ira Glass introduces each story in a setup like John Cleese on Monty Python- behind a desk placed incongruously in some unusual location.

I get the impression not a lot of people have Showtime, but they are really stepping it up recently with some really great shows like Weeds and Dexter. The Tudors is pretty bad though- only good for a little skin.

Here is the segment:

My Fav Superbowl Spot

GPS POWER!

Year End Lists: My Top 10 TV Moments of 2006

1. The Wire
What an amazing 4th season for The Wire- it seemed to be finally getting the critical hype it deserves this year, too.
Gotta love the moment when Omar, in his bathrobe, walks the streets of Baltimore terrifying the corner kids and even scoring a package.

2. Battlestar Galactica
This year saw the end of season 2 as well as half of season 3 - some less consistent episodes recently, but it's still damn good sci-fi. I loved the episode liberating New Caprica with the Galactica in the atmosphere, and the final battles of the Pegasus.

3. Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations
The best food-travel show ever. My favorite episode was Quebec. It inspire me on a trip to Au Pied De Cochon for foie gras poutine. However the best moment was when he shared a raw seal carcass with an eskimo family. The old ladies laughing with blood on their faces was priceless. He ate the eye!


4. The Office
This show is definitely a distinct item from it's UK inspiration. I loved "The Merger" episode, particularly Ed Helms' Andy vs. Dwight.



5. How I Met Your Mother
What can I say - Robin Sparkles!
"Let's Go to the Mall!"





6. The Colbert Report
This was Colbert's year- I think it really came to light at the White House Correspondant's Dinner, but gosh darn, my nerd side loved the Green Screen challenge. It even brought Lucas out!
And with last night's Decemberist's shredding challenge, Colbert's da man!


7. Deadwood
Dan Dority vs. the Captain!







8. South Park
"Make Love, Not Warcraft" - a fitting tribute to our friends lost to the World of Warcraft. I know someone I have not seen or heard from in 2 years because of this game.



9. The Headbutt
Just because of how the Italian team were so obnoxious taking dives during the World Cup final, I think we all wanted to headbutt them on their asses like the great Zidane did. Even though he didn't win the match, we all won.




10. Tyler & Roeper
With Ebert out for his illness, this show has had a series of guest critics with Richard Roeper. You got to finally figure out if A. O. Scott actually liked or disliked a movie.
However, the best part was discovering Aisha Tyler is kind of nerdy. Her video picks one week were Ong Bak and Old Boy!

The Wire 4.13 - Final Grades

Whew, what a season - The Wire finished it's fourth season last night with a fantastic episode filled with a lot of heartbreak sprinkled with a teeny-tiny bit of hope.
The stories of the four boys all came to an end with very mixed results.
I loved seeing McNulty giving another shot at real police work. I also liked seeing the reappearance of the Greek's man with Prop Joe. Poor poor Bubs.
The parallels of Carcetti's political career with that of our future Governor and outgoing Mayor O'Malley are really interesting.
My favorite scene was with Bodie and McNulty in the park and how the sunlight seemed to darken for a moment- it was beautiful and sad.
I wonder when they'll start filming in town for the new season. . .

The Wire 4.12 - That's Got His Own

The most recent Wire episode was probably one of the darkest episodes of the series for me. Because of the storylines this year following the kids, all the events that occured on the episode were especially sad because of what all the events hold for their futures. Sadly, now, all of them have lost their parents - from Dukie leaving Prez for high school to Randy's tragedy.
For those who don't know Baltimore well, the stable where Bubbles gets advice is for the horses that are used to draw fruit and vegetable carts around this city. Yes, Baltimore still has these fruit carts - one comes around my neighborhood in the late afternoons.

The Wire 4.11 - A New Day

Damn, a great episode of the Wire this week. Omar's power play was brilliant- he's the Lester Freamon of the street. It was also awesome to see Lester back at Major Crimes with his subpoenas back in play.
My favorite scene was when McNulty and Bodie were eating together- it really hearkened back to seasons 1 to 3- nice moment.

Battlestar Galactica 3.8 - "Hero"

Wow wow - a Six, D'anna, and Baltar 3-way!
Glad to have Tigh and Adama together again. The cylon plan- wonder if Baltar had a hand in it?

Team Karen

EW posted about these t-shirts you can get to pick sides for the Jim-Pam-Karen triangle. I gotta say I'm all for Karen. More sassy and stylish than Pam, and also Rashida Jones played a bully to the geeks on Freaks and Geeks.
Last night's episode was great. The merger, the interaction between Ed Helms and Steve Carell, Dwight vs. Andy, and STANLEY!

The Wire 4.9 - Know Your Place

When people are dispatched on The Sopranos, you get mostly a sense of glee at their ends. In the Wire, there is a great gloom and sadness over the life lost.
Nice episode- more of a downer this week with our heroes facing off against the systems in place (school board, city politics, the game, even parents in the case of Michael). I was actually near the Ruth's Chris Steak House last week for the Musical Box show. I remember Sunmonkey and I talking about their buttered steak.

Battlestar Galactica 3.7 - "A Measure of Salvation"

Cool episode, but it seemed to move pretty fast.
Tricia Helfer was sooo hot!
The thing about the fetal antibodies isn't really right technically, but who cares.
Still also impressed with Lee's gastric bypass weight loss.

Jennifer Carpenter on Showtime's Dexter

I gotta admit that Showtime's doing better than HBO in finding new shows. Weeds 2nd season was fun to watch especially when Zooey Deschanel showed up, and now there's Dexter. (this compared to Lucky Louie (not funny), Dane Cook's Tourgasm (unwatchable), Rome and Big Love (only good for nudity and violence))
Dexter's about a forensic blood spatter specialist who moonlights as a serial killer who targets other killers and bad guys as his victims. Six Feet Under's Michael C. Hall is the lead and he's really good. The show also has Julie Benz (Darla from Angel/Buffy) as his damaged girlfriend. However, the real breakout is Jennifer Carpenter. She plays Dexter's kid sister who is trying to move up the ranks of the Miami PD. Her character has a mix of sass with some confidence issues, and darn it if her awkwardness isn't cute. Plus the woman must only weigh like 100 lbs. Jennifer's breakout role was in The Exorcism of Emily Rose, plus she was in White Chicks.
The good news is that Dexter has already been picked up for it's second season.

The Wire 4.8 - "Corner Boys"

I love that the police on The Wire hang out drinking and singing along to The Pogues. I also enjoyed hearing Chris and Snoop using the identification of Baltimore club music to weed out the New York City interlopers.
The scene where Carcetti shadows Homicide was hilarious, too.
There were a few "breakups" - Bunk and McNulty, and Burrell and Rawls. I also suspect Prop Joe might have some ulterior motive in ordering the New York bodies into the open- perhaps setting up Marlo.
The reference to education being a dangerous issue to elections reflects on the current gubernatorial race in Maryland with Baltimore's Mayor O'Malley, the inspiration for the Carcetti character, really getting dinged by the Republican incumbent Ehrlich for his failure to improve the education system in the city.
Mr. Handjerker out.

Battlestar Galactica 3.6 - Torn

Jagshemash.
I like the dual "arenas" of storylines happening on the show now.
Baltar and the cylons are great. I love Gaius' penchance for "self-preservation" as Gaeta put it. The basestar hallway looked like a redressed Galactica hallway, but the whole idea of projection was smart.
My favorite points - naked Boomer cylon tai-chi and the return of Starbuck's short hair.

The Wire 4.7 - Unto Others

A really nice middle of the season episode this week. I love Omar's "ethics". I liked watching Kima doing good police work on the Braddock case. Lester would be proud of her.
Interesting politics now that Carcetti is on the track to becoming mayor. I really liked his meeting with Royce. Deputy Rawls is going to be disappointed now that Carcetti has seen Daniels in action.
On the street, Bubbles struggle to keep Sherrod on track took a sad turn. I did like Cutty's decision to devote more time with his kids.
Baltimore insider stuff: I liked the Natty Boh sign in the background when Carcetti is on his ridealong.

Battlestar Galactica 3.5 - Collaborators

I love Galactica! This week was no different. Cool episode.
Poor Jammer didn't deserve to be sucked out the launch tube. The characters, particularly Tigh and Kara, were so emotional and angry in the aftermath of the Cylon occupation. Nice analogy to our current situation with Presidential ordered tribunals to try the collaborators. The shades of grey. . .the shades of grey.
By the way, Lucy Lawless is way hotter now than when she was Xena. What gives?
I loved how Baltar is the weasel to the end. He's so great.

Battlestar Galactica 3.4 - Exodus, Pt. 2

Holy cow! Pegasus is gone!! Tigh killing his own wife!!
What a huge episode - the battle to liberate New Caprica was exhilirating. I knew Lee would come back to help his father, but the cost. . .
Leoden is a dumbass, but I love the end to Kara and Kasey's story. Pretty messed up.
Also, Hera being found by Baltar and then going over to D'anna splits the storyline to the cylons as well as the humans. Nice!