Entertainment, Weekly: The Small Screen

ER: Emergency Room? Or Exasperating Ruin?

Last night I tuned into the ER episode T-6. I haven't watched this season of ER, because, as everyone knows, it has been awful for the last few seasons. 

I did watch this episode because John Carter continues in his second episode back at County. He, (spoiler alert) was on dialysis at the end of the last episode, so basically I want to figure out what happens to him. 

First. This episode, and the one before it, have had some...slighty clever double meanings. 

Last week it was..."The Beginning of the End," perhaps illustrating that this is the beginning of the final plots of the show, and the beginning of the end of John Carter's life. This week it was, "T-6," that signifying that there are only six episodes left in the show, and Sam mentions that her horrendous day will end in "T-6." 

Second. The episode was ok....not great. John Stamos is a truly pathetic actor. The directing and camera movement is a lot different from the middle seasons of the show, which really could be motion pictures with the quality of the acting and directing and writing (More on that in a second). The characters just aren't very strong anymore, and I simply don't care about them.

Third. ER used to be a great, great show. I think the early to middle seasons of the show were truly fantastic. (Granted, I haven't seen seasons 3 or 4) 

But, in my opinion, Seasons 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, constitute a group of five seasons that could compete for the best in TV history. Only the first four seasons of the West Wing, or "The Wire," could compete with the compelling story lines of ER. These seasons had Dr. Carter getting stabbed, addicted to drugs, and finally stepping into the breach. Dr. Greene continuing his leadership and then dying. Dr. Corday being..brilliant. Dr. Benton pissing off Romano, fighting for his son, and leaving. Dr. Lewis returning. Dr. Kovac arriving. Hathaway and Ross leaving. Abby Lockhart arriving, with her sass. 

Anyway, finally...I'm going to watch these last few episodes of ER simply because I want to see the old cast reunited. I do wish Greene had only been written out, and not killed. That was yes, a great plot, and well done, but it was terribly sad...and I wish he could return. 

But, if they kill Carter, and complete his journey into "the new Greene," they will be completely stupid. Let the viewer walk away happy. My favorite character is either John Carter or Mark Greene, and you can absolutely not kill both of them. You let Kovac walk away, do the same for Carter. 

Music of the Week

Each and every week, I'll run down my favorite tunes, and a link to them. Check it out.

1. Sodom, South Georgia by Iron and Wine

It's beautiful. Listen to it, and get the lyrics. 

2. Grapevine Fires by Death Cab for Cutie

"She laughed and danced through the field of graves." Classic Ben Gibbard. 

3. Flake by Jack Johnson

One of my favorite songs of all time. 

"I know she loves the sunrise, no longer sees it with her sleeping eyes."

4. Daniel's Song by The Finches

The Finches...its the future. Haha. 

5. Casimir Pulasky Day by Sufjan Stevens

Thank you Eva Rendle for including this on your original mix for me.

6. Bookends by Simon and Garfunkel 

Simon and Garfunkel. Enough said.

The Showdown

Holy, holy, holy shit.

This just in. The old squad, that being Alhambra High School's mock trial team...just advanced to the finals for the third time in four years I believe, after beating Acalanes by 1!!!!!!! point. 

Think about this. There were ten scorers. That is ten scoresheets. We won five, and lost five. Each scoresheet usually adds up to a little under 200 points, or about 100 per team. That means that there were 2,000 points!!! out there...and we won by a single tally. 

So now its, once again, a showdown against the big bad beezies from Miramonte on tuesday. Good luck team.

Dawn...you are amazing.

Pilot

Welcome, everyone. I do hope that this blog will cover a wide array of topics that will interest everyone. 

On Monday, I took the train back to Martinez. I still get a kick out of the fact that Amtrak Conductors still look and act like they want to teleport back to the late 19th century. Seriously, the caps, uniforms, mustaches, and attitudes all belong in the 1890's, not more than a century later.

I headed over to Alhambra and sat down with a few old teachers, namely Ryan Hussey and Eliot Schain. I do agree, yes, there are problems with Martinez, and it is good and necessary for her young people to escape. Still, AHS had its moments. 

These two men are both quirky and off-beat, but they deeply care about what they are doing, more perhaps than their students deserve. Eliot Schain puts up with immaturity and carelessness each day, and only asks students to try. I certainly spoke up in his class, and perhaps that is why he put up with my sarcastic remarks regarding Shasta's stance on evolution, or when I dressed up like him for teacher appreciation day... OR when I went on the morning announcements and told the school to check out EliotSchain.com.

He wasn't overly happy about that.

 

Yes, I could be a pain in the ass. But he will always have my respect for putting up with me.

Then I sped downtown to the Courthouse to meet up with another Alhambra Mock Trial Alum, my dear Bethany Walls, and watch our old team go up against Monte Vista in the Contra Costa County Quarterfinals. 

But lets pause, quickly. 

Alhambra is a Mock Trial powerhouse-enough said.

But why is it that Mock Trial at Alhambra gets no respect, even when, year after year, we turn out quality teams? 

How do we do it?

Easy...'cause Dawn Polvorosa is a god.

She takes random students, every year, and turns them into winners. We shouldn't be at the top, year after year.

Northgate, for example, has 90 students try out for their team. Monte Vista has a class dedicated to it. Miramonte is a mock trial cult. 

And we have Dawn.

The courthouse for Contra Costa County is in Martinez, and I used to always enjoy saying that when we competed, we were on home turf. People had to come to our town if they wanted to beat us, and usually we'd send them home crying. 

Well, Adrianna Mendoza rocked her opening statement, and our witnesses all outfoxed Monte Vista's quite annoying attorneys. After a while of listening to them, Beth wanted to strangle someone. 

At the end, Phil Thomas stood up and closed the deal with two awesome crosses and a bone-crunching closing statement, effectively sending our squad to the semi-finals once again. 

TONIGHT, they go up against Acalanes (a team always noted for their douche-i-ness). 

After that, I headed back to Davis. I'd wanted to come to this University for many years...mainly because I felt comfortable and connected to the town and community. It reminded me a lot of Martinez, except of course it was more educated, had more young people, and was even more liberal. 

I do love Davis, and am still relieved and happy that I go here...but Martinez and its students will always matter to me.

Thanks everyone, and have a good Thursday night.