Blatant Fanboyism

I spend a lot of time alone.

Ok. This is one of those instances in which I think that I am not odd. That I am, in fact, like a lot of other people. But my problem is that I also spend a lot of time observing that I am alone. That’s key. Most people don’t think about it^sd But I do.

Anyhoo, while alone, I spend a lot of time doing things to occupy my time so that I don’t feel so alone. One of those things is writing^sd2. But the major one is watch TV.  Well TV shows. Or shows, that at one point, aired on the television channels that you know and love.

Let me backtrack for a minute. Because this post is, in fact, an example of an evolution. Or something. 

About two years ago The Dutchman introduced me to the brilliance of Firefly. Though he didn't know it at the time, this did three things. 1) Made me rewatch Buffy. 2) Turned me into a Joss fanboy 3) Gave me the idea to name my first daughter Inara.

...

Ok. He probably could have guessed #3. But that’s not the point. I became a Joss fanboy. Which heightened to a fever pitch around the time before Dollhouse started. Notice that I said before. Because when the series started I watched ever episode with antici

pation.

But it really wasn’t a good show. At least for a while. I mean, I recently rewatched the entirety of Dollhouse (during the hiatus) and most of the first season is comically bad.  I mean, its great to watch while you’re drinking^sd3. But other than that…the episodes don't work. Especially w/r/t the greatness that the show has become^sd4.

I know what your thinking right now. Well, you’re probably thinking two(ish) things. 1) wtf is ditriech doing writing?^sd5 and 2) what does this have to do with anything. This is the Beirut song of the weekend. Not the Beirut ditriech rambles on about tv shows of the weekend.

I assure you I’m getting to the latter point.

The reason why I^sd6 was excited about the new Whedon venture is the premise. The same as Firefly^sd7.  A western. But in space. Fucking awesome idea. Dollhouse’s is _even better_

Dollhouse premise: “Ok. So there are people who get their mind wiped. And can be whatever you need them to be. For a price.”

That’s a great premise. because when you hear it you think two major 1) if you can afford to pay for this what do you really need? 2) Is this nothing more than a really great brothel? because most guys just generally want sex.

Then you want to see what Joss does with it. Ok. That’s not technically true. I think that you’d want to see how any great show runner would deal with this^sd8. Because if you had this premise, you’d want to see how they’d reconcile these things.

Whatever the reason you’d first tune into this show as a casual fan, you’dve stopped watching quickly. The first 5 or 6 episodes were pretty bad. Ok, that’s an overstatement. The first 4 were bad, 5 is where it started to be a decent show. But, where it got great was 01x08.

The title of 01x08 is “Needs”. And it is, by far, my favorite episode of Dollhouse. In fact, it may be one of my favorite hour 42ish minutes of TV ever. And I’m going to tell you why^sd9.

Needs completes a mini arch in which the Dolls are glitching. Meaning, that something in their former lives, generally, was messing up them being a doll. Like it was infiltrating the “imprints” or personalities that they were assigned to do for a particular, uh, shift.

It’s really hard doing this show without spoilers. Especially this ep. And I'm going to spoiler something after this here jump. But it’s worth it.

Anyhoo, theses glitches convince the dollhouse upper management to allow certain dolls to fulfill their needs.

To be honest, when I first watched this episode, it didn’t really register. But when I watched it a second time^sd10 I noticed what this episode was doing. Ok, well, to be honest, I guess that all the episodes were kinda doing this. But this one was the most overt.

“Needs” is showing us that even if you completely, and I mean completely, wipe someone’s mind, there are some things we don't lose. Ever. These are the things that make us human^sd11. Well, not just human. These needs make us who we are. Not us as in a group of people. But us as individuals.

What I mean is that even if my mind was wiped, my doll version would probably still show a predilection toward the internet and drinking. It’s part of who I am at my core. And that’s what this show was about. It is about who we are as people individually. And what, if anything, can take that away from us.

The song that plays during the climax of this episode is “Lonely Ghosts” by “O+S”. And, is hauntingly beautiful. Also: this week’s BSOW. I mean, I would go on about how this song is pretty much perfect and all. But I’ve gone on enough about Dollhouse. So just listen and draw your own conclusions.

O+S
Lonely Ghosts
O+S

----

sd: but I bet you do now!

sd2: Something that will become more evident over the next moth or so. Probably.

sd3: Not that I do much without drinking. Well work. Most of the time. I think. I don’t know. I’m pretty drunk most of the time.

sd4: Seriously, one of the best TV shows I’ve watched in very long time the last 5 or so eps. Which is why I now think all sci fi shows need an end date

sd5: And why can’t he do more? Ok, fine. You twisted my arm. I’ll write about TV now too. Happy?

sd6: Seriously one of the best show’s I’ve ever watched. And if you’ve never seen it we probably shouldn’t be friends. Or we should, so I can show you how awesome it is. Something.

sd7: see sd4

sd8: To be honest, I didn’t know what a show runner was/did until Dutch introduced me to Firefly. But I really want to see what someone like JJ Abrams or Shawn Ryan could have done with this premise. Not that I think it would be better. But because I enjoy other things they’ve done and it would make me happy.

sd9: what? you thought I wasn't?

sd10: I’ve noticed that I typically watch everything twice. At least. Which is totally new and different for me, because I rarely watch things more than once.

sd11: Which, honestly, is what the show is about. What is human? How are we humans alike? And what makes us different? It, actually, should probably been seen as a counterpart to BSG.
 

Oh, there they are

Dutch golfer Tiger Woods captured his 67th victory this Sunday at the Memorial in Muirfield Village this Sunday*

Of note: This sentence by itself simultaneously fulfills the Ohio, Dutch, and sports monthly requirements of cofabg. So at least we got that going for us

While in a 4-way tie, the Dutch golfer birdied back to back holes (17th and 18th on a way to a one shot victory at the Memorial, his fourth. Jack Nicklaus^sd1, the former Ohio State golfer and host of the Memorial tournament said that the Dutch golfer will more than likely surpass his record of 18 major tournament victories. This statement, no doubt was well received in Holland, as they've been looking for a champion of their own for quite a while now.

The Dutch golfer had a 7 (seven) under par day on Sunday, coming up with back to back clutch birdies on the 17th and 18th holes to win by one stroke. This finish gave golfers around the world a momentary pause, as we are only two weeks away from a return to the US Open at Bethpage Black, which was the site of the Dutch golfer's notable win in 2002. Notable, mostly, because Tiger was the only golfer to shoot under par for the entire tournament. Also notable because of the....excitable New Yorkish sports^sd2 fans that showed up to support, heckle, and otherwise yell at the golfers attempting to play at the extremely difficult "Black" portion of the Bethpage State Park golf course. This tournament was also personally notable to cofabger ditriech, as it was the tournament that "solidified" his love for the sport of golf, becoming only the third time in his life that he could remember with accuracy what caused, or made him realize his love of a sport or team^sd3.

written by the cofabg staff (for primarily the enjoyment of Dutch) with help from these two fine intertube publications.

I am different. This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one, because by definition everyone is different. But the best way to describe me is different^sd1. The littlest things make me happy. Case in point: everything I've ever become a fan of on facebook. Also: my facebook profile itself. But I saw something that everyone^sd2 can enjoy.

I went to a bar yesterday.

This was mostly because one of my coworkers had come in and we had this conversation:

Him: "It's such a nice day outside
Me: It really is.
Him: You want to go to Clyde's and have a drink?
Me: Yes.

So, we walk over to Clyde's.

Sadly, the outdoor bar at Clyde's doesn't seem to have beer. Only liquor. So, I order my liquor standby, a seven and seven (7 & 7? Biz can I get a ruling on this?).

After the first couple of sips of my drink, I espied^sd3 something behind the bartender.

That's right. Muthafuckin' Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka. The font is even reminiscent of the tv show's font^sd4

So, after talking some to the bartender, we ask for taste. And it is amazing. Quite possibly the best Sweet Tea Vodka in all the Verse.

Now I just need to find out where I can buy it (which is, honestly, as easy as going here, calling the distributor in DC and asking. But I'm lazy) so that I can create a true "John Daly".

(RG on the Earworm phenomenon to Hey Jenny Slater)

As we all well know, I have a pretty addictive personality. Mostly with respect to, you know, beer. But also with music. So, it should come as no real surprise that I have a new favorite song by my favorite group^sd1, the Zach Condon led Beirut.

You see, apparently while I was falling in love with Gulag Orkestar, Beirut released another album. And, I'm not over exaggerating here^sd2, reaches greatness in the second track, "Nantes^sd3".

Seriously. This is the greatest song that I've ever heard. Like ever. I know, with my tendency toward hyperbole that doesn't mean much, but I have visual evidence!

(Taken about 02300 05/26. Click Picture to Embiggen)

(Taken about 0018 05/28. Click Picture to Embiggen)

Seriously. I've played the song 24 times in the past two days. And that's not even counting the time I played it on winamp, or listened to the imeem version or watch the YouTube video.

Which is, of course, right here.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/hq2s0AhdFE4" width="375" height="308" wmode="transparent" /]

Actually, there are two "official" YouTubes to this song, the other being a little different, an though I think it is good, it just doesn't feature the tubas as much. Which I don't necessarily dislike, its just that the one I featured here is a lot better.

Seriously.

Listen to how beautifully his voice carries in the stairwell. And the whole following him down^sd4 thing that the camera does is pretty awesome. But watch what happens at the 1:54 mark (or with 2:00 left if you are like me and like to watch things countdown). From that point on, Condon just takes over. Completely. Overpowers the instruments without a microphone.

(Cleans off spittle from screen)

Seriously. New favorite song. It will overtake Mt. Wroclai. Soon. And when that happens, I'm sure I'll tell you.

---
^sd1: Well, at least my favorite artist since I moved here. The Wu probably is all time favorite. And I know I said Weezer was my favorite band before. Like two days ago before. That was obviously a lie because although Weezer is good, they've never done anything this good. Ever. Very few people could. (back)

^sd2: Well, maybe a little. (back)

^sd3: I'm well aware that Nantes is a city is France (and, actually, each song is supposed to give a feel of a different French city) which means that a) I won't be able to pronounce it at all and b) That somehow, the French are winning their war against me right now. Which cannot stand. (back)

^sd4: Yes, that was a Gin Blossoms reference. Good catch.(back)