Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Paradox

Theres a pair of ducks who have taken up residence in my pond.  Its not the first time and Im guessing that the pond is a kind of highway motel on their way to whatever winter haven they travel.  But the weather has been so unnaturally warm off and on for the past few weeks, that I think theyre just waiting to see which way they should be heading.  If they follow the wing of geese that went over yesterday, theyll head southwest.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Today's sky report

I wanted so much to like Carpoolers, the new sitcom on ABC Tuesday nights.  I mean, I am one.  A carpooler.  I spend at least 90 minutes a day (most days) with two other guys driving to and from work.  We talk about a lot of different things and its always amazed me how well we all get along given that our ages are each about 10 years apart (I get to be the old one).  A lot of what goes on in our carpool (which will stay in carpool), is thought provoking, funny and mostly entertaining Were at our best when were inventing things, and you can find a lot of our best ideas in Kreblog’s excellent blog.

First, I have to admit Ive only seen the first episode.  A vacation during the height of premiere weeks has given me a serious case of DVR backlog.  But I made it a point to watch the first episode as soon as I could and now Im thinking Id have been better off going to bed early.  The four characters were broadly drawn, with some classic sitcom personalities (the philandering divorced guy, the p-w family guy, the insecure guy and the young newlywed guy).  Done well, these personalities can lead to a successful run.  But the Carpoolers all seemed shallow; maybe its the fact that its only been 22 minutes of TV so far and you cant reveal much in the way of complexity, but I’m not holding my breath.

I think what disappointed me most was the scenes in the car.  While weve been known to break out into song together (it’s a little hard because of the age differences I cant remember any words to songs written after 1979), we dont cry.  Theres no crying in carpool.  And we dont get real explicit about our certain parts of our private lives (whos on top?  Ewwww!).  It also seems weird to me that these guys all work at different places and that there is special parking for carpoolers.  That must be a California thing.  Here in the east, we all work together and we park with the masses. It would be way cool, however, if the FE Everett turnpike would install a carpool lane.  Wed be pretty lonely, but wed shoot through.

What does work for me is the funny scenes of other carpoolers.  Old carpoolers not moving with their blinker on.  Rich carpoolers eating sushi.  Chuckle. Chuckle.  And the kid, Marmaduke, has his comedic moments, or maybe that should be moment.  Interviewing on-line without pants.  Nice.

I will give Carpoolers a few more rides before I kick them off my DVR list.  Theyd better develop some more creative plot lines and flesh out some interesting characters.  I have read that Rebecca Romijn will be making a guest appearance later in the season.  Wouldnt mind having her in the carpool.