The Reading Journal of RMS

Lately I've only had the patience to re-read books that are in either diary or epistolatory format. This might be partly because I haven't paid my big library fine yet. But apparently I can watch plenty of TV.

1. I am so into LOST this season. I'm not sure I entirely know what the hell is going on, but I love the time traveling.
   
   
2. I'm getting tired of Chuck. Partly because I think Jeff and Lester are more likable than Chuck and Morgan, and partly because the preview for next week gleefully promised lots of "TORTURE!" If I wanted to watch "TORTURE!", I'd watch 24. But I don't, and I don't.
   
   
3. I must confess to watching The Real Housewives of New York City. In my defense, last year when Doc was very ill and the eeee! was out of town, a marathon of it ended up being a good distraction. So I have a bit of a soft spot for the show, even though I don't particularly like anyone on it.
   
   
4. I think the field pieces on The Daily Show are pretty uneven -- maybe even more than they were ten years ago when no one knew who they were. But the latest one, with Jason Jones and the Antichrist and Hitler, was awesome.
   

   Jason Jones: Do you think before you speak?
   Pastor: I think very carefully and long about what I'm gong to say. I even thought long about whether I was going to do this interview with you.
   JJ: I don't think you thought long enough.
   

   
   
   
5. ( Top Chef Spoilers )
   
   
   
6. Edited to note that I'm unsure about the possible return of Futurama. I adore Futurama, but I think the series ended on a high note, and I'd hate for it to come back only to die out slowly. I've been underwhelmed by the two movies since then, mostly because the writers can't seem to put together a 90-minute plot. Maybe they still have some good 22-minute stories in them?
   

On a non-TV note, I really enjoyed this essay by Zadie Smith on language and Obama and Shakespeare. Obama's family could have stepped right out of a Zadie Smith novel, so I really loved her perspective on him.

We finally watched the Futurama movie tonight (Bender Gets Bent), and it was on massive, massive amounts of crack. There were some cute references to previous episodes, and Al Gore was awesome, as always, but other than that, eh.

(And when I say "massive, massive amounts of crack", I mean, "Suddenly, last night's 30 Rock makes perfect sense." And speaking of last night's 30 Rock, at the end of the episode, the eeee! turned to me and asked if "Midnight Train to Georgia" was a real song. I was speechless. This is an issue that couples should address before getting married, I think -- where do you want to live, do you want kids, have you heard of Gladys Knight.)

Other than Eli's complete and utter disinterest in all things Motown, things here are going quite well. I have found Indian food in Isla Vista that is . . . well, it's barely passable, but it's cheap. I bought some clothes, so that I don't have to start repeating shirts on the fourth day of class. We went out for drinks with a bunch of ecology people we know in town (and there was a roughly even gender ratio, oh my god), and we have all sorts of other fun things planned for the weekend. Best of all, tomorrow's Michigan hockey game will be on actual, live TV. Hooray! Go Blue!