yes, i'm aware i watch a lot of tv. it's almost my job, people.

I'm exhausted from the trip to MA/NH and school and work, but I just wanted to pop in and tell y'all that my self-help bitchfest addiction is back in full force. The DVR allows me to catch up on all the goings-on in the house in one giant block. I can fast forward through stories I don't care about (Kim and Jennifer, I'm looking in your direction) and just watch The Drama unfold. So much more efficient than watching it when it actually airs.

Lost could also become a new addiction. Of course, it's up against America's Next Top Model, which did start its season off with a bar brawl.

My life isn't completely consumed by television. I ripped a bunch of Neil Diamond and Johnny Cash songs from my parents' meager CD collection onto the iPod this weekend. Now I can jam out to "Song Sung Blue" or "Love on the Rocks" whenever I damn well feel like it. Shuddup. You know you love the Diamond...

you make me sort of glad that i waited 'til today..

I saw the Old 97's last night at the Troc, and they just plain ROCKED, blazing through new songs and old classics alike. They really are a fierce live band, and though Drag It Up is somewhat uneven, it will probably grow on me as a result of last night's show. They really are my favorite live band, followed only by my beloved Sloan, who are probably only second as a result of two spotty shows that I've seen in all of 11 years. I've yet to see a spotty '97s show (one that I remember anyway...)

it's the end, the end of the '70s

RIP Johnny Ramone. Now Tommy's the only one left of the original four. If you like the rock n' roll, it's almost impossible to not like the Ramones. What I found bizarre about the obit was the mixture of people who were at Johnny's house when he passed. Some sort of make sense: Eddie Vedder, Rob Zombie (Haverhill represent!), while others gathered are just plain weird: Lisa Marie Presley? Vincent Gallo? Talia Shire? Pete Yorn??

(completely unrelated: I was having a conversation with either Erika or Jess last week about how "For Nancy" is a fucking anthem. That jam is being loaded onto the iTunes as I write this. You know, "Cos it already is..." Too bad he lost my love by writing an entire song about 7-11 burritos.)

for your reading pleasure...

...may I suggest my girl Erika. She and I go all the way back to Peggy's intro to media criticism class at NYU in the 9-6. We got to watch Michael Jackson videos the day after he and Lisa Marie announced their divorce. Don't ask me why I remember that, but that's what I call Education with a capital E.

I've been so wrapped up with other life and school concerns that I forgot that it's New Fall Season time. This means, of course, that I can swear at the TV every Monday night as I have for the last, oh, 7 years. In honor of this event, I'm totally buying this shirt.

Tonight I watched Joey. I figure it will be cancelled soon enough. The only good thing about it (I hate Friends) is that Adriana and my Road Trip crush (the stoner kid) are part of the supporting cast. Oh, Paulo Costanzo, how I love you so, you sexy Canadian you...

teen idols of the '70s and '80s update

I still don't know what to make of VH1's In Search of the Partridge Family. The premise seems to make no sense--a reality show in which people audition to become Danny, Keith, Laurie and Shirley Partridge. For some reason, Chris and Tracy (the two younger ones who did nothing but blankly stare into space) no longer exist in this new version of the series. Simulation? Simulacra? Who the fuck knows? I'm just trying to figure out why we're trying to remake a '70s TV show when we're supposed to be all about the '80s nostalgia right now. (Actually, if you want to get all "meta" about it, this show should be a search for replicas of The Monkees, since '60s nostalgia was hot in the '80s, but I digress...)

Speaking of VH1, why is Jordan Knight everywhere on the damn network? The dude's on the new season of The Surreal Life and there's going to be an NKOTB episode of Bands Reunited.. I watched a snippet of Surreal Life last night and all I could think was, "Damn, Jordan looks old. At least he got rid of the rat-tail." But you know what? His 1998 quasi-hit "Give It To You" had me. That was one catchy single...

"i hope you remember me, i was your daddy once"

A late-night conversation with Matty H. last night led me to dust off Jellyfish's Bellybutton and add some early '90s poppy goodness onto the iPod. I'm always amazed at how I can rediscover something. At a record sale 6 years or so ago I purchased a promo-only live EP of theirs for 50 cents. I had forgotten about it until I found it next to their debut record in the mammoth CD collection. It has some kickass Paul McCartney and Badfinger covers on it. Of course, this wouldn't have been exciting to the 15-year-old Heather who purchased Bellybutton on cassette, as I had no idea who Badfinger were and was more concerned about getting my hands on more Jesus Jones and Soup Dragons records. Oh, how times have changed.

(And yes, I'm fully aware I'm discussing a band named after the creature that i fear more than anything on god's green earth beside the Portugese man-o-war.)