I have watched more TV in the past three days than I have in the last several months, and I can now declare with great authority: television is teh sucks.
My god. I can’t believe how horrible daytime TV is, and the crap the news networks show to fill their 24 hours is just plain stupid.
However, I did find two things that brightened my day just a bit. Yesterday, SciFi channel ran several episodes of The Twilight Zone, and I just watched an hour of The Battle of the Network Stars on Trio. I think it was from 1977. The hazy quality of the tape, Howard Cosell interviewing Patrick Duffy (credited as “The Man From Atlantis”) and the general weirdness my fever (moving between normal and 101 today — currently it’s at 99) casts upon everything made for a very surreal experience. I remember watching that show when I was very young, in the den at my mom and dad’s house. I remember how cool I thought that show was, and how much I wanted to be on it one day. (Everyone was on that show. Look at this cast list I found!) I thought that obstacle course they all had to do was just the coolest thing ever.
I also suffered through two episodes of The Newlyweds on eMpTyVee. That’s right: two. Holy Mother Jesus Balls. Is Jessica Simpson really that stupid? She’s 23, I think, and doesn’t know how to cook? Are rich and famous people really that lame? Why in the world is that show so popular? I just don’t get it. It’s actually more painful than that stupid Anna Nicole show.
I wonder if any sociologists have studied a correlation between the staggering stupidity of so many people and the explosion of these “reality” shows. I wonder if art imitates life, or the other way around?
Okay. Enough of my cantankerous ranting. I’ll end today on a positive note: Since I got sick, I have watched the entire extended cut, and all the appendicies on my The Two Towers DVD. It’s awesome. It’s very clear that TTT was an extremely difficult film to make, even more than Fellowship of the Ring . . . I mean, they spent three months of night shoots to film the battle of Helm’s Deep! Three months of night shoots! I once did three weeks of nights on a movie, and I was ready to lose my mind. I can’t imagine three months, in the rain, doing complex battle sequences.
The esprit de corps that the cast and crew had really comes through, and it reminded me of all the different shows I’ve worked on where the cast and crew became family. I miss that. If I get a chance to work as an actor again, I hope I get to experience that again.

I just got this e-mail from MoveOn:

As we enjoy the holidays with our families, our thoughts naturally turn to those who can’t: the 150,000 American soldiers who are spending the holidays in Iraq and Afghanistan. We’ve run across a great way to support them and make a real difference in their families’ lives — by turning your unused frequent flier miles into trips home for our troops.
We’ve checked out this website — created by Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger (D-MD) — and it really works. If you have frequent flier miles with virtually any U.S. airline, you can participate by going to Heromiles.org
Do you have a family member serving in the military? Or are you a veteran? Heromiles.org is a great example of citizens looking out for those who have risked everything for their country. Help us do the same by letting us know who you are and how your family member in the military is doing.

I think this is a fantastic idea, and I encourage everyone who reads this to participate.
UPDATE: Ernie, of the essential Ernie’s House of Whoopass (NSFW) runs Let’s Bring ’em Home, which takes “donations to purchase plane tickets for junior enlisted military personnel, allowing them the opportunity to fly home and spend the holidays with their families.” (Thanks Flaim!)

I’ve been sick since Friday night. This is the first time I’ve been really sick since 1995, and holy shit is my body making up for lost time.
Yesterday, I had a fever of 103 (yes, try to not sing “hot blooded” now) for most of the day, and an oh-so-joyous dry hacking cough. The fever, the aches and the chills are nothing compared to the cough. I feel like someone’s been punching me in the stomach and hitting me across the ribs with a baseball bat. Last night, I was coughing so violently, I woke myself up and wasn’t able to fall back asleep for almost an hour.
This could not have come at a more inconvenient time. I still need to pick up some gifts for my wife, I have packages to ship at the post office, and we have to get our house in order for a family dinner on the 25th.
I also don’t believe in medicating the hell out of myself, so I take all sorts of homeopathic stuff, and let my body heal itself . . . but the coughing is do painful I broke down and took some cough syrup this morning, and some advil to bring my fever down. Right now my fever is down to 99, but I still feel a little woozy, almost like I’ve found the bottom of a few pints of Guinness.
I’m going to go back to bed, but I wanted to let WWdN readers know that tomorrow night, Drew from Fark and I will be on Tech TV’s Unscrewed. We did some really funny stuff, and I know that you’ll enjoy it. Check local listings for times and stuff.

My iBook woes continue. Several people directed me to this solution, which sort of worked. She starts up if she’s plugged in, but when I unplug her, she locks up. I tried removing her battery and resetting the PMU again, and she’s currently fdisking. I was hoping I could help her out myself, but I think she’s going to need professional help.
Oh well. It still feels bizarre to write at my office desk, but somehow I’ll manage. Kwrite does all sorts of nifty highlighting and stuff. It’s fun to watch links change color while I’m writing them.
Ah, I am so easily amused!
Yesterday, I took the morning off, and surprised Anne with a trip to Disneyland to see the Haunted Mansion Holiday. My pal Eric works there, and he totally signed us in. Thanks, Eric! You rule! 🙂
The crowds didn’t show up until we were leaving around 3p.m., so we were able to hit all the fun rides that we love, and even made a trip to DCA for some Soarin’ Over California. It was cool to see the Tower of Terror facade that’s pretty much finished. The kids at Disney have done a fantastic job again with the Haunted Mansion Holiday, and I strongly urge everyone who can make it over there to check it out.
I’m working my ass off on a few nifty projects, Nolan is sick, and the holidays are looming, so I don’t know how much time and energy I’ll have to update my site over the next few days. I’ll dump some interesting links here to keep WWdN readers busy until I can dig some entertaining junk out of my brain.

• Biz Stone wrote a great article for Blogger’s knowledge base called How to Get a Book Deal With Your Blog. I enjoy reading Biz’s articles, because they’re funny and informative, like School House Rock without the singing.
• Is it just me, or does Strom Thurmond’s daughter look like a dude in bad drag?
• I’ve been listening to The Cure’s Disintegration and Depeche Mode’s Black Celebration and Violator like crazy the past few days. I don’t know what it is about Plainsong, but every time I hear it, it’s like there’s a chain connected to my heart and the back of my head, and the song grips it, and gently pulls me up toward the sky.
• My buddy Rob is an amazing magician. If you’re looking for a magician for a party or something, you should call him.
• Powell’s does a newsletter, and Dancing Barefoot gets a fantastic review on page six! (Thanks to Amber, who sent me the link.)

I think that’s all for now. I see that my iBook has woken up, and wants a software update. One of the updates has to do with the battery, so maybe that will magically make everything work again.