Jordan Collier/Cliff Secord

Maybe you didn’t know, but imdb is one of my favorite websites out there. I often use their search features to find out who’s who in many of my favorite tv shows and movies. Every once and a while I come across something completely unexpected. Today was one of those instances.

Have you seen the TV show The 4400? It is on the USA network and has just finished airing season three. (We watched the first two seasons on DVD from Netflix so you can too!) It is a fantastic science fiction show with the premise that 4400 people were abducted during the 20th century (apparently to the future) and were all returned on one night, many with special powers. I find it fascinating.

Anyhoo. There’s a character named Jordan Collier. He’s somewhat of a Christ figure (JC!) and fairly controversial. Never mind that, though. I just realized who he is…

Cliff Secord! Or for those of you for whom that name doesn’t ring a bell… He was The ROCKETEER! I was shocked. (and I can tell you are too!) I can hardly wait for season 4 to start up next summer so that I can watch Jordan Collier with a whole new perspective.

calling all Sweaty Toothed Madmen!!!

So. There I was. Innocently watching VH1’s Best Week Ever when I caught a quick gilmpse of a familiar face.

It was none other than 2001 Gordon Grad: Pete Holmes! I could barely believe it. I called Peter into the room, but it was too late… So we waited around a bit and, POP, there he was again. WOW. A quick google search brought up his blog and his website.

All you Scotties (1997-2001ish) out there will probably remember him from such antics as “Sweaty Toothed Madmen”, when he played Sebastian the Crab in the “Mr Gordon” pagent, and well…many other comedy themed events…

So, catch “Best Week Ever” and look for our very own Pete.

It’s time to put on makeup…

qqq|It’s time to play the music, It’s time to light the lights, It’s time to meet the Muppets on the Muppet Show tonight,

It’s time to put on makeup, It’s time to dress up right, It’s time to raise the curtian on the Muppet Show tonight,

Waldorf- Why do we always come here? Statler- I guess we’ll never know Waldorf- It’s like a kind of torture Both- To have to watch the show

And now lets get things started Why don’t you get things started It’s time to get things started On the most sensational inspirational celebrational Muppetational this is what we call the Muppet Show|qqq

If watching this is torture….strap me to the racks and let that water drip!

Please help me relive my childhood by buying me the aformented DVD (it goes on sale tomorrow). Then all I would need is to get my red table and chairs back from my baby cousins…and find a DVD of Solid Gold and the time travel would be complete.

Beauties, Geeks, Brats and Fast Food

Over the last few days I’ve seen some interesting things on TV and DVD.

We got Super Size Me from Netflix on Tuesday and popped it in the player during dinner… a HEALTHY dinner of tortilini and pesto. I’ve heard great things about this documentary and was looking forward to finally seeing it. I liked it. I have already read Fast Food Nation and so I was not surprised at much of the facts laid out in the film. Even still, the effects of all those hamburgers on his liver was shocking! Watch it and make your own decisions about whether or not to visit MickyD’s.

I’ve also been watching, over the last few weeks, the WB’s Beauty and the Geek. I wasn’t sure I would make it past episode one (considering that it was the brain child of Ashton Kutcher!) but by the end of the premiere I was hooked. The premise was that they would pair intellectual guys with not so intellectual gals and subject each team to a series of challenges that would test the smarts of the gals and the social skills of the guys. Hopefully, each contestant would learn to appreciate the skills and talents of the others. In any case, I found it terribly entertaining. It was great to see these beautiful girls come off their social high horses and actually enjoy being wiht the geeks…and it ws fun watching the geeks open their eyes to something other than science or medicine or music.

And finally… have you seen the recent commercials for Brat Camp? It is a new ‘reality show’ about trouble kids who are sent to boot camp by their parents in a last ditch effort to turn their lives around. Judging by the ads, the kids go camping, hiking, rock climbing and are forced to reevaluated their lives. — Last weekend I saw that commercial with five other family members and five out of six of us declared, “That looks like fun!” It almost make me want to become a problem child just to get to go on that adventure!!

Aye, Aye Captain!

For those of you, like Chad, who keep up with the goings on over on Sesame Street, I’m sure you’ve already heard the news that their newest season will be focused on helping kids become healthier. Chad writes about Cookie Monster’s new song, “Cookies are a Sometimes Food,” which is only part of their new season-long initiative.

I, for one, am glad that the show is trying to get this message out to kids. I think it can only have positive outcomes. All this talk about teaching kids about health and nutrition makes me think of a classic Sesame Street character… Captain Vegetable!! Now, don’t you think it would be cool if they brought back the Captain? I found a site where you can get the lyrics to his fantastic song, as well as download it if you haven’t heard it in a while. Peter won’t need to download it, since I sing it at home several times a week already

Captain Vegetable first graced the small screen in 1982 and had a 13 season run on the show. I think he’d make a nice addition to the new “healthy” theme of the show.

er mcgregor

Today, possibly to brighten my chores, TNT decided to air my very favorite episode of ER (The Long Way Round, 2/13/97). That was very sweet of them

I have to say that there are many, many episodes of ER that I love. I’m not even sure why I like this one so much, but I just do.

Perhaps it is because it guest stars Ewan McGregor. More likely it is the amazing nursing skills of Carol Hathaway. Ewan and his ‘cousin’ hold up a convenience store with Nurse Hathaway and several others inside. Things turn bad and Ewan ends up killing the store owner. Carol does her best to help the wounded using MacGyver-like skills. She uses duct tape, and the straw from a juice box and the cardboard part of a tampon and KrazyGlue for various medical procedures. Very cool.

It is also interesting to see the progression of McGregor’s character… From a guy just needing a few bucks, to a murderer, to a victim. Although he is the “bad guy” you can’t help feeling sorry for him. He makes a couple bad decisions and they multiply and come back to haunt him.

Thank you TNT for providing a pleasant break in my day of house-cleaning!

Muppet Advertising

There are so many commercials out there that I find to be really horrible, so when I come across one or two that I like I look forward to seeing them over and over again.

Two that have been playing lately have a couple things in common: they are both for soda, and they both feature songs that have been sung by the Muppets. Interesting, no?

I have fallen in love with both commercials. The first is for “Diet Cherry Vanilla Dr. Pepper.” I have yet to try this concoction, so I won’t speak for the flavor, but this one particular commercial is fantastic. The scene opens on a busy restaurant: A couple sits dining. The gentleman is engaged in chattering away on one topic or another. His date takes a sip of her DCVDP and the world seems to slip away as her date’s rambling melds into “mah na mah na”. The rest of the diners chime in with the obligatory “doot do do do do” right on cue! Ha! What better way to drown out someones sports ramblings. I’ll have to try it sometime!

The second commercial begain airing more recently. It is for “Coke with Lime” soda. Basically what they have done is altered the classic lyrics “put the lime in the coconut, drinkem both up” to instead say “you put the lime in the Coke, you nut, drinkem both up.” The idea is formed in a Coke lab and passed on up through management. All the while the song is playing in the background. Just to make sure that the general population got the joke, the Coke people have added a little bouncing ball lyric subtitle at the end. Classic.

Both songs can be found on the album, Muppet Hits.

St. George’s Church

Of all the TV shows I watch one of my favorites is The Amazing Race. I especially like to see the interesting places that the teams get to visit all over the world.

Last week the teams were in Ethiopia and were instructed to go to St. George’s Church. The church was hewn from solid rock and all that is visible from ‘ground level’ is the very tip of the roof. You must climb down through the cliff to enter the building. Very Cool.

The link above has some interesting information about Ethiopia, especially the country’s Christian heritage. You should check it out.