Daria on DVD

Finally, the wait is over. MTV's beloved Daria is now on DVD. It includes all 5 seasons of the show as well as the 2 movies. I wasn't sure this would ever happen, it really took them a long time. The hold up was associated with problems getting licensing for all of the songs played on the show. They were not able to pay for the songs and even if they did, it would make the DVD set unaffordable. The compromise was that they were able to release the set but with new original songs added. When I first heard this I thought that would make the show unwatchable, because that was part of the shows charm. a lot of people that reviewed the DVD set on Amazon really hated that they had changed the music. Watching the DVDs, I've noticed that I don't mind the original music so much. The new music in a way makes it more modern or timeless. I enjoy Daria's dry humor and I've enjoyed watching them more than I thought that I would. Kinda reminds me of high school. If you are a fan, then you might enjoy this set as well.

LOST "The End"...

Well, the good news is we did get an ending and SOME answers. The bad news is that they left a lot unanswered or open for interpretation. After I figured out what was going on, it did provide closure and it was nice to see the faces of those who hadn't been on the show in years (Shannon, Libby, Charlotte, Juliet, Daniel, and Boone all returned as well as Rose and Bernard). The producers say that there will be more answers on the DVD (which kind of sucks, if they wanted us to know these things they should have told us during the course of the show). This seems like a ploy to get everyone to buy the DVD set (which I will!)

After I was able to process everything that happened during the finale, I did feel slightly better about it. The way the show is designed, you can't help but expect answers because they continually bring up questions. My expectations were set way too high. I then remembered that we were lucky to even get an ending to such a great show. Many shows go off the air or get cancelled before they are able to conclude anything.

In my opinion, I would give the finale a 7.5 rating. This is only because some questions I wanted answered were left unexplained. The show is extremely exciting, a great ride that I feel glad to have seen.

"Inception" Movie Trailer

This is the new film from Christopher Knight who also directed "The Dark Knight." It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page, it looks incredible. Interesting and original story. The special effects look amazing, as well as the cast. I can't wait to see this one. I was so taken in by this trailer that I watched it 3 times. Where's the popcorn? Let the summer movie excitement begin! It opens July 16th.

ACL Festival 2010 Lineup

The ACL Festival Lineup was revealed and the headliners this year are the Eagles, Muse, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem. It also will feature among others Phish, Strokes, the Flaming Lips, Spoon, Vampire Weekend, Norah Jones, Band of Horses, Monsters of Folk, Sonic Youth, the National, Broken Bells, Yeasayer, Beach House and Gaslight Anthem. While the Eagles reunion will be exciting to some, this line-up really offers me nothing. I pretty much looked at the list and thought who, who and who? Not one hip-hop or soul act of any kind. The only person that I would get excited about seeing would be M.I.A. who was fantastic at ACL 2 years ago (already seen her). I'm sure this lineup is a dream for some, I just think this festival could use a little diversification with the acts that are lined up. It's sad that out of all the acts that are playing, I'm only excited about one that I have already seen. I guess this means I probably will not be in attendance this year, disappointing.

The Worst Series Finales

A series finale is always important for viewers and fans. It is a chance to properly end a show and sort of wrap up outstanding story lines and bring characters back that maybe were there from the start. It's also somewhat of a reunion as well as an ending. For example, shows like Ally McBeal, the X-Files and Felicity brought back original cast members who had previously departed to say goodbye. It's usually bittersweet, at this point (if the show has gone on for too long) a lot of fans have stopped watching. The original casts help draw back those viewers that have stopped watching. Sometimes a series finale can just be so terrible that it ruins the entire show.

A shining example of this would be the show Mad About You which was quite popular and ran for seven years. The show followed Jamie and Paul Buchman and their ups and downs as a married couple. In the final episode they were having problems and found out that through some glitch they were never legally married. They then separated, making all their previous married years obsolete. Will and Grace stopped being friends in a similarly horrible fashion. Another horrible example would be Newhart where he wakes up with the wife from his previous series, making his newer series a dream. So terrible! Why would you do that to fans that have been watching your show for years? I can also recall at least one season of Roseanne that was also a dream (I didn't stick around to watch the end though). We'll see if Lost makes me similarly angry, they have been bringing back all the people that have left or died in some way. I just hope that they tie it up nicely, so I won't have to add it to my list of horrible finales. I'll keep you posted.

I hate Starbucks

I don't drink coffee due to a hyper-sensitivity to caffeine, so I usually tend to stay away from coffee shops. My boss frequently gives out Starbucks gift cards as gifts. While it is nice to receive gifts, I don't have a whole lot of use for these because I don't and can't drink coffee. Today I decided to use one of these gift cards, because I now have two of them. Their menu only offers about 3 non-caffeine choices that are not coffee. I decided upon the Vanilla Rooibos with soy milk. My choice seemed to irritate the cashier for some reason (maybe it bothered her that I didn't order coffee). Anyway, she was a total b****. All she has to do is put a teabag in some hot water and charge me $3 for this, how difficult this must have been for her. She also left out the shot of vanilla which I didn't notice until I got home. Needless to say, she got no tip from me. I was glad to not be addicted to caffeine so that I wouldn't have to repeatedly see her stupid face. Hmmm, maybe I just hate her and not Starbucks.

Sade's new video for "Babyfather"

Sade has a brand new video for "Babyfather" and she looks fantastic. She looks incredible at 51 with the Jamaican wind blowing through her hair. Who new domesticity could be so sexy? I wish I could go to her house for dinner (that green jello and fish looked delicious). Check it out below.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck cries during apology to Erin Andrews

The entire time that she was ranting about Erin Andrews' Dancing with The Stars costumes, I thought she was going a little too far. Of course I am glad that Elisabeth was woman enough to admit that she made a mistake and apologized. I really never could figure out why she was so against Erin's costumes in particular (has she seen the other contestants costumes?) I don't really watch Dancing With The Stars, but the costumes that I have seen on other contestants look pretty similar to Erins. Why she seemed to just focus in on Erin is any ones guess. Maybe she should stop being so rude and think about what she is saying before she says it. Please watch her breakdown.

Frutii Frogurt...yummy!

This was really a treat, and so good that I had it two days in a row. They are a self-serve yogurt shop that basically gives you a cup and lets you pick the flavors and toppings. They also let you sample them all first to see which ones that you would like. The yogurt is light and fluffy, tasting closer to gelato or sherbet. They offer twelve different flavors (which are switched out monthly). The toppings included various diced fruits, cookies, candies, etc. anything that you would want as a topping. My personal favorites were the "mango" and "blueberrylicious" yogurts with diced mango and strawberry added and topped off with gummy bears (it was fantastic, and much more so than I can describe). Whatever you choose, they then weigh and price accordingly. It's quite addictive.

The "Our Body, The Universe Within" art exhibit

This is an exhibit that is showing at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center on the U.T. Campus. It has been travelling the world and I finally had the opportunity to see the exhibit. It was both interesting and disturbing at the same time. Most of the exhibits were pretty harmless (the kind of fare that you would see in biology class, the only exception would be that instead of using artificially made models, they used real human cadavers). The bodies were preserved using a process called polymer impregnation which both preserves and dries. The skin had been removed so that you could see the muscle and skeletal systems and some were only partially skinned. Blood vessels and muscles were painted to match live muscle and pigment tones.

Some of the bodies were encased in glass and some were not. It was quite shocking to see them up close. Capillaries and ventricles were highlighted with color for enhancement. The most horrifying thing by far was the prenatal room which had several dead infants and fetuses (shown in monthly progressions) in liquid and lit by lights from underneath(very disturbing). Also there were several bodies that had been sliced into small half inch segments. The segments were then encased in small, glass window-like sections and then spread out so that it looked like a human body that had been stretched out like an accordion. You could see in between each of the segments and the body is laid out as if the person is laying on their back. There was also a body that was holding it's own skin in his arms. Other parts of the exhibit showed various parts of the body and organs opened to where everything inside is visible.

Most of the hour long exhibit seemed harmless, nothing you wouldn't normally see in a science class. It was fascinating to see, but not for the squeamish. I couldn't decide whether it was art or science (maybe it really was both, but I'm glad to have seen it). I think it was one of the most interesting things that I have seen. Check it out if you have the chance. It will be on display until September.