Person of Interest - S1 E2 - Ghosts

Reese and Finch battle to save a teenaged girl who has been presumed dead for two years.

Review after the jump.

Community - S3 E2 - Geography of Global Conflict

Annie wishes to set up a Model UN at the college but is beaten to the punch by her evil Asian twin. Britta yearns for the more rebellious time in her life.

Spoilers after the jump.

The Save Ryudo Fund

Please help Ryudo - any amount you can spare is welcome! Ryudo has fallen on very hard times lately and could be homeless within a month. We simply cannot allow this to happen, espcially as he is in poor health.

Ryudo has been a great friend to all of us in the Shenmue Community over the years. I've known him since 2003, 8 years now which is pretty crazy, all things considered, and after we became friends, despite any problem I ever had with other people, I always knew that he was a fundamentally honest guy I could trust.

When I was in my greatest hour of need, someone in the Shenmue community, no, not a community - a family. They stepped up to help me and now I am prepared to do the same for Ryudo. So please help - All forms of payment are accepted. If you'd rather send directly from your Paypal account, please head to the forums and PM him for details.

Up All Night - S1 E3 - Working Late and Working It

Chris frets over Reagan not making an effort to look sexy for him while Ava moons over an old flame.

A couple of paragraphs after the jump.

Ringer - S1 E3 - If You Ever Want a French Lesson

Shivette suspects her husband is plotting bad things behind her back and really that's pretty much it.

Spoilers after the jump.

Glee - S3 E2 - I am Unicorn

Auditions for West Side Story open and Kurt and Rachel head the line. Rachel's birth mother Shelby returns to Ohio to teach at McKinley High, Quinn's former baby in tow.

Spoilers after the jump.

Gossip Girl - S5 E1 - Yes, Then Zero

Blair frets over her upcoming marriage to Prince Louis while Chuck, Serena and Nate are respectively having fun, working hard and smoking a lot of weed in California.

Spoilers after the jump.

2 Broke Girls - S1 E2 - And the Break-up Scene

Max finds her new roommate Caroline to be increasingly intrusive in her personal affairs.

Spoilers after the jump.

How I Met Your Mother - S7 E3 - Ducky Tie

Ted runs into ex-girlfriend Victoria and vows to make amends for the way their relationship ended. Barney makes a wager with Marshall and Lily which they quickly come to regret.

Spoilers after the jump.

NFL Picks Week Three sponsored by Studio Yukupo

Last week was a fairly atrocious week for me picks-wise. As I alluded to in my College picks column, it's because I got way too cute with my choices, going off track and against the grain with my selections - but then again, where is the fun in going chalk? Two weeks in I feel like we have a better idea of what these teams are and where they are headed but there still a few out there hiding behind results and performances that look better on paper than they actually were. I'm lookin' at you, Cam Newton. Now noone can deny his astonishing numbers aren't encouraging, but as he himself will tell you, the important stat with him is 0-2. He also has more INTs than TDs so far and in the modern NFL where receivers can't hardly be breathed on without a penalty, yardage is almost a redundant number. We will see, we will see.

Picks after the jump.

NCAA College Football Picks Week 4

The talk all week has been about the realignment brouhaha. I was interested at first but now, the way it's dragging out, I'm thinking, wake me up when it's all over. Every decade or so there seems to be some kind of seismic shift so it should be nothing new, but this time something feels different, almost as though the entire future of the game rests on these colleges getting their decisions right. Ultimately, it all seems to be about money and while their desperate grasping hasn't changed my position on players getting paid, it sure is undermining my argument about a full ride scholarship being more than enough. On the field, LSU distinguished themselves and now lead all the polls that Oklahoma don't. While people point to the strong play of Oregon in affirming LSU as No. 1 in the nation even though the Ducks have only played Nevada and Missouri State since the season opener in Cowboys Stadium. With conference play starting in earnest, we should be able to finally get answers on where everyone really does shake out.

Picks after the jump.

Person of Interest - S1 E1 - Pilot

John Reese (Matthew Fox Jim Caviezel) teams up with a mysterious man named Ben Finch (Michael Emerson) who has developed a computer program to identify people who will be imminently be involved in a murder. Together they aim to save as many people as they can.

Musings after the jump.

Community - S3 E1 - Biology 101

With the reconvention of the academic year, Jeff is keen to keep Pierce on the outside of the study group. A successful wing of the college meanwhile plots to take control of the whole pizza.

Spoilers after the jump.

Up All Night - S1 E2 - Cool Neighbors

A modish British couple move in across the street from the Brinkleys while Ava struggles to connect with the baby.

Comments after the jump.

Ringer - S1 E2 - She's Ruining Everything

Bridget, or "Shivette" as the double life is now apparently dubbed is confronted with a huge problem and a very limited time in which to solve it. Agent Machado is smelling a rat but are his assumptions correct?

Spoilers after the jump.

Glee - S3 E1 - The Purple Piano Project

A new school year convenes with the Glee club 3 members down. Will hatches a plan involving repossessed pianos to snare new recruits. Meanwhile, Sue renews her war against the club.

Spoilers after the jump.

2 Broke Girls - S1 E1 - Pilot

Max (Kat Dennings) is a waitress in a greasy diner who doesn't expect much from life when she meets Caroline (Beth Behrs), a down on her luck socialite who sees potential in Max's ability as a pastry chef - together they resolve to raise the $250,000 required to open their own cake shop and are sure to have wild and hilarious adventures along the way...

Spoilers after the jump.

How I Met Your Mother - S7 E1 & E2 - The Best Man & The Naked Truth

Double bill season premiere - In the first episode, Ted reminisces about the disastrous wedding party of his old friend Punchy. In the second, Marshall is worried that his Youtube escapades will cost him a dream job.

Spoilers after the jump.

NFL Picks Week Two sponsored by Studio Yukupo

Week Two tends to be overreaction week. With only one week to judge how a team will play going forward, it's easy to make snap decisions and assume that because a team won big, they're for real. You really need to take all factors into account. Did the game mean more for one team than another? Was one of the teams just really awful? Was it all about the matchup? Even though I split, I don't feel bad about any of the picks I made in week one and feel like a lot of what happened confirmed what I already knew.

One of those is that Kyle Orton really is that mediocre. Hilariously, there was a lot of sudden backtracking on the future prospects of the Broncos with many pundits who had backed them for success leaping from the bandwagon and proclaiming, "OH, I KNEW ALL ALONG!" which is strange as I distinctly heard them declare that Kyle Orton would win games for them. Y'know, like he did last year. Another curious fact from last week was that the NFL's Best Looking Team absolutely destroyed the Ugliest Team (both literally and figuratively).

Picks after the jump.

NCAA College Football Picks Week 3

Surprises were thin on the ground last week as most teams were still taste testing cupckes but now we're getting into the emat of the schedule with one marquee matchup in particular this week. Last week it was all about three games which went down to the final seconds. In the early afternoon, Auburn edged out Miss. State as I expected. The Bulldogs were favored in that game and Dan Mullen ahs done a great job pulling them this far in such a short time. Of course, now you have people declaring that he is winning with Sylvester Croom's recruits, and trying to give him undue credit. I just don't think it's valid. Would Croom with the same players get the same kind of results from the offense? I seem to remember in the corresponding fixture a few years ago, a final scoreline of 3-2. I don't think it's fair either to credit Ty Willingham with Charlie Weis's early success at Notre Dame, or Ron Zook for doing anything at Florida. You have to win the games. That's something that Mark Richt hasn't done of late. Although most credit the team for outplaying South Carolina in a 45-42 loss, Georgia is 0-2 and already in grave danger of being out of contention in the SEC East. A division title is a must for him to keep his job, at least in my eyes. You can go around the SEC and ask other head coaches off the record and they will tell they do not fear Georgia and that is a terrible indictment.

I'll mention that other game last Saturday night with my picks after the jump.

Up All Night - S1 E1 - Pilot

Reagan (Christina Applegate) returns to her job as producer of popular daytime talk show Ava (Maya Rudolph) after the birth of her daughter who is home being taken care of by her stay at home husband Chris (Will Arnett).

Review after the jump.

Ringer - S1 E1 - Pilot

Following the mysterious disappearance of her twin sister Siobahn, fugitive Bridget Kelly (Sarah Michelle Gellar) assumes her identity and all that comes with it; an extravagant lifestyle, a cold husband (Ioan Gruffudd), a resentful step-daughter and so much more. Hot on her trail is FBI Agent Machado (Nestor Carbonell) attempting to both apprehend and protect her...

Spoilers after the jump.

NFL Picks Week One sponsored by Studio Yukupo

The official resumption of our annual picks begins here and now! After his victory by two games last year, I'm out for revenge. Already 5 up in NCAA picks, it continues here! As ever, the lines are based on those the Sports Guy uses for his picks, although I might find a different source because his new site Grantland is a little tough to follow, the layout is not intuitive and the tone is rather pretentious. We both picked the Packers on Thursday night due in no small part to the fact that the Super Bowl champs have won that first game of the season eleven straight times, and it came through, Hopefully, it's an auspicious start.

Week One picks after the jump!

NCAA College Football Picks Week Two

I actually don't see the problem at all with these by now infamous uniforms sported by Maryland. It's not like the pattern appeared from nowhere; it's the state flag, it features in the university crest and also on the shoulder pads of the Baltimore Ravens. Also, it's not as though Maryland is a storied historic program like Penn State or Notre Dame bound by rigid tradition.
There are a bunch of teams with medium to high expectations that really crapped the bed last week and could get buried this week if they don't watch themselves. Oregon should be able to handle Nevada ok but as for the rest of them...

Week Two picks after the jump.

100% Unscientific NFL 2011 Predictions

With a new season kicking off tonight, it's time to bust out with our, or rather my bold and completely totally wrong predictions for the final outcomes! I'll preview my thoughts on each division race and list the teams I believe will play for all the marbles in the Super Bowl on February 5th in indianapolis. One guy who probably won't be on the field that day is Peyton Manning as it sadly looks like it could be coming to the end of the string for he and his Colts. But! Let's not count them out yet. Myself and Chris will also be resuming our annual contest picking against the line and those will be revealed later too. Spoiler alert! We both like the Packers.

Predictions after the jump.

Summer Gaming Recap

After beating every available inch of Pokémon White, I turned my attention back towards my PS3 which I had neglected since December of last year after Platinum-ing Final Fantasy XIII. Determined to rectify that the only way I know how - binge gaming - I've gotten through six and a half games...

Ramblings after the jump.

Summer TV Recap

Due to a combination of fatigue and schedule, I neglected to recap TV shows I watched over the summer. Shameful I know, but I'll half correct that failing now. More with an overview of the series rather than individual recaps though. Those will start up again with the fall TV schedule. A notable absence from this list is Game of Thrones which everyone tells me was the best show of the year, which I have no trouble believing given what I've been watching. Sadly I just haven't managed to squeeze it in between work, study and another activity I'll hopefully post about soon.

Reviews, mostly spoiler-free, after the jump.

Lost and Delirious (2001)

The first thing to note about this poster of course, and this is a complaint with many, many movie posters is that the names don't match the actor they're listed above! If one of them is Tom Cruise or Hanks or someone like that, ok no one is gonna get confused, but for a movie like this where none of the headline actors are well known and arguably still aren't to this day, it can really mess you up. For the record L-R it's Mischa Barton, ironically famous for being committed to a mental health facility after having played a lesbian on TV, Piper Perabo celebrated on everyone's most underrated actresses lists and Jessica Paré, of Mad Men Season 4 finale notoriety.

The film is loosely based on the Susan Swan novel The Wives of Bath but while that novel deals more with the suppression of feminism and gender roles, Lost and Delirious seems to have its eye on societal repression and the ineffectual way authority handles troubled children.

Mischa Barton plays Mary, appropriately nicknamed "Mouse", a timid young girl sent to an girls boarding school by a cold father who is too busy with his second marriage to concern himself with her. There she rooms with two older girls, Tori (Paré) and Paulie (Perabo) who Mary comes to understand are more than just close friends. However, terrified of being ostracized by her religious parents Tori breaks off the relationship and Mary finds herself caught between an increasingly unstable Paulie and Tori with whom she empathises, feeling unloved by her own father.

Conclusion after the jump.

NCAA College Football Picks Week One

To complement our annual NFL picks, Chris and I, or rather just I, decided to pick college games as well; just a small selection of each weeks slate though, not every single game! Our field of knowledge as far as the NFL is regarded does not extend to the college game but we'll have fun with it nonetheless. For the record, my year end projections are fairly straightforward in that I don't think I'm deviating much from the chalk:

Big East - Pittsburgh
Big Ten -  Michigan
Big 12 - Oklahoma Sooners
Pac 12 - Oregon
ACC - Florida State
SEC - Alabama

National Champions - Oklahoma
Heisman Winner - Landry Jones

Picks after the jump.