Monday the 2nd

Commute:

• Finished off this weekend's Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me, and the This American Life episode on infidelity. I hadn't listened to any This American Life podcasts for a while - and flat out deleted a few of the Planet Money themed ones. I enjoy them separately. In this instance, I do not want the peanut butter all over my chocolate.

Nighttime:

• HIMYM. It was OK. Still not all that enthused about Barney/Robin - I am almost longing for a Ted storyline.


• Modern Family, the football episode. I love Cameron. His cannonball at the end was fantastic.


• Big Bang Theory. Also about football, and I especially loved this one because my friend Ravi, despite being a very cool hipster, could totally hang with the nerds on this show. And like Sheldon? Is from Texas, and magically understands football. It is a fascinating phenomenon.


• The Soup, Something About Smackdowns. If it weren't for this show, I might have to watch even more crappy reality TV. So I'm glad this summarizes.
  
• And it's taken a while, but I have hit a show I don't really want to admit to watching. Little People, Big World. I don't watch it often - in fact, I may not have seen any last season - bc I feel like I'm watching a train wreck. The dad isn't very likable, the mom is passive-aggressive, and I feel guilty not liking all the kids bc - they're just kids.
  
• So I changed the channel to watch The Colbert Report, just in time to see Dan Jansen. He has aged WELL. If the Colbert Nation does sponsor U.S. Speed Skating, I will have to start paying some of my Colbert Nation taxes. Is this actually happening, because... awesome!

Sunday the 1st

• Modern Family. Finally got around to watching this in an effort to clean out the DVR. Turns out it is FANTASTIC. I laughed out loud at every episode, and got teary-eyed at most. The "Circle of Life" moment in the premiere episode was just perfect - check iTunes to see if you can still download this for free. Well worth it. Start watching so it sticks around a while.


• The State, Season 2. Netflix is hella behind sending me the rest of Dexter Season 3, and so I've ended up with too many episodes of The State to watch back to back. It's still funny, but not needed in large doses.


• Sports. Somehow, I got caught up watching Niners/Colts (loss - DAMN), Packers/Vikings (wanted to see the response to Favre's return - will be curious to read his biography years later and find out what actually happened with his retirement/return), and the World Series. I was rooting for the Phillies, bc rooting for the Yankees isn't all that much fun, but had to give up to Johnny Damon for stealing two bases (and shame on you, Phillies, for letting that happen).
  
• TAR. One of the best episodes of the season - the Globetrotters dance - and a real bummer of an ending. While I didn't much care for the Poker Players, that was a horrible way to have to leave the race. I wonder how hard hitting the bell was? Can you solve that with physics, or just brute strength?


• Mad Men. This season really took off in the last 3-4 episodes. I was struck by how dark and moody the lighting was when Don went upstairs to absorb the fact that Betty was willing to say she didn't love him. Of course, knowing he'd just been having another affair makes it pretty difficult to feel very sympathetic about this. I am also glad the show addressed the Kennnedy assassination - I'd heard internet rumors that they weren't planning to - because I find it even more engaging to watch characters I already know react to a historic event, rather than watching a movie specifically designed to address that event.