I think that there should be a new law passed that simply states that there can only be one vampire show on television at a time. If you like, that law can be amended to state that as long as True Blood is on (and as long as it is good and doesn’t turn into some crappy shadow of itself) that no other vampire are allowed over the airwaves.

You can’t take a leak without hitting a new vampire show these days. That, or movies. There should already be some sort of law against any additional Twilight movies.

Know what makes True Blood great? Blood, gore and sex. That is exactly what makes Twilight lame. There is none of that. And truthfully, that is what is going to make The Gates, a new series on ABC lame. You just can’t be faithful to the vampire m.o. on network television and/or a PG rating.

Sometime this afternoon I changed my mind about the profession of acting.

In the past, I firmly believed that actors got paid entirely too much for what they do. That is to say, a person like Tom Cruise or Jim Carrey don’t deserve $20 million a picture. They are basically just pretending to be someone else and letting us watch. They live a privileged life, get all the breaks and one movie can basically put them, their family and their family’s family on easy street — forever.

Then, I reflected on what type of a world we’d live in where there weren’t television shows or movies to capture our imagination. Where would we be without actors? What would I do on a Sunday afternoon, where it is literally so hot outside that going out to walk the dog puts you at risk for heat stroke? And what about the money – does the fact that actors make millions really influence my life in any way? Are opportunities being withheld from me because Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell do the same shitty flicks again and again and people pay to see them?

I came to this realization while watching the show Nurse Jackie. It wasn’t the best television show I had ever seen, but something about Edie Falco‘s performance just convinced me that she deserved whatever fee she was commanding these days. I appreciated that her character was a sort of “anti hero” and deeply flawed. That in her world, she could be a good and bad guy, all at the same time, while being funny, crass, sarcastic and mean spirited. Such a different character than say, Carmella on the Sopranos. And for the record, I really liked the show (Nurse Jackie).

Or a show like Weeds (one that i can’t seem to say enough nice things about) where I can be made to feel so empathetic to the plight of a suburban house wife turned drug dealer? Or Lost and it’s magnificent island – a place that I’d very much like to visit (if not live).

Actors deserve whatever they get paid, because without actors, writers, film makers, etc the world would be a very different and boring place.

Can't seem to get enough of Lost

I am rewatching Lost for the fourth time – from the start all the way up through the current season, which I believe is number 5. You could say that I really enjoy the show. I think more than anything, it is the island. Yes, it sucks me in also.

Tom Hanks in Castaway

If given a choice, I’d probably live on that island. I mean, there would need to be really interesting people around and I couldn’t be by myself. No, I wouldn’t want to be Tom Hanks in Castaway.

Just something about the mystery and beauty of that place.

Technically, that place does exist in the real world. It is Oahu, not far from where my wife and I spent our honeymoon. But there is no Jacob, Ben, Jack or Sawyer — and surely there isn’t a Juliet (awhh). There is no smoke monster, or Others, or hatches.

So while I’d be dodging a bunch of supernatural stuff while living there, at least the island would offer a diversion from real life responsibilities. No corporate bailouts or boring college basketball games. No deadlines to meet or social networks to maintain? No World of Warcraft to play? I know my wife would LOVE that.

But I’d still need to be in the Dharma initative or something and have a nice bed to sleep in, with semi modern conveniences. I wouldn’t need mobile broadband, just a shower (could be a sun shower I am not that picky) and maybe a hibachi.

Oh Tony, you're so despicable

I’ve been watching a lot of the Sopranos recently. Actually, my christmas vacation from work has been nothing but watching. It all started when I restarted my Netflix account. I had forgotten to empty my queue when I left the service, so a year later when i reinstated it (to watch Jericho through Netflix On-Demand) the Sopranos Season 1 showed up in my mail box.

After watching the first disc of Season 1 in 1 sitting (4 hours) I was hooked. Been purchasing the rest of the episodes on iTunes because i don’t want to wait a week for the next disc to show up in the mail!

Junior Soprano is my favorite character – I also like Christopher. The show is great and I a currently downloading Season 4. Pretty good chance I can get through the entire series before I return back to work on Monday.