Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Atheism and a can of worms

An old friend of mine, C., is in religious studies. On her blog, she recently posted comments about an interview of Ricky Gervais which features an explanation of why he's an atheist. It's an interesting read and worth your time. (Click here to read the Gervais article; here to read her comments.)

In response to C's blog about the article, I left a comment which evidently opened a can of worms and she wrote an even longer blog post in response. To which, of course, I had a respone. That conversation can be found here.

What are your thoughts about God? do you believe?

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Musing about music - take 2

You may remember a post from earlier this year (July maybe?) that I wrote in response to an idea my cousin Clay had on Facebook. Clay was proposing that we stop listening to music made prior to 1990 so that we'd be more open to new music. (You can read my original post and Clay's response here.)

In response to Clay's proposal, I've been making it a point to tune into radio stations with more obscure playlists which is quite a feat here in BR. And so, while I'm not exactly breaking new ground, I have developed an appreciation for artists/groups that I hadn't previously considered. Acts like Wilco, Sufjan Stevens, Regina Spektor, Mika, and Florence + the Machine, have made it into regular rotation on my playlists.

Have you thought about making an effort to add to your playlist? What have you added?









Sunday, December 5, 2010

fave 10 of '10

So, I was leaving a comment on Mo Ryan's TV Squad blog post for the best 10 shows of 2010 and realized it had turned into its own blog post. Here you go:

I'm not sure these were the 10 BEST shows of 2010, but they were certainly my favorites.

Not in any particular order:

Glee - Yes, it is wildly uneven, but most episodes leave me smiling. What more can you really ask for?

Modern Family - This show is so good, they even managed to make a family vacation episode funny.

Cougar Town - Jules and the Cul-de-sac Krewe have stolen a little piece of my heart. This show has improved so much that it is almost unrecognizable from the first episodes that aired in Fall 2009.

Justified - Timothy Olyphant kicking butt and taking names as a US Marshall. Walton Goggins as his former friend and sometime adversary. How awesome is that combination?

The Vampire Diaries - This surprised me as much as anyone. Believe it or not, it's consistently well acted, big things happen in every episode and I have yet to see an episode I wasn't entertained by. And that's not even talking about the drool-worthy cast...

Community - So, so funny. The paintball episode alone would've earned the show a spot on this list and it isn't even my favorite episode. I know all the pop culture references are a bit much for some, but they make it all the better for me.

Chuck - Season 3 was a little bit of a let down for me, but I've really enjoyed season 4. And even season 3 was more entertaining than a lot of what's on out there...

Supernatural - Yes, season 5 was uneven and had pacing issues, but when it was good, it was SO good. AND Jensen Ackles will probably never be recognized for his exceptional work as Dean Winchester. For that matter, Jared Padalecki has certainly stepped it up a notch this fall with Robo-Sam. I've been really rather amazed by his completely new character portrayal.

Friday Night Lights - FNL will always have a spot on my top 10 list, even after it finishes its fifth and final season. It's that good. Kyle Chandler and Connie Britton have created one of the most realistic tv marriages it has been my privilege to see - and they make it look easy. FNL has also done a fantastic job of ushering out fan favorites as they graduate and move on with their lives while introducing new characters and making me care about them almost as much. How often does that happen? And, it has Tim Riggins. *sigh*

Terriers - oddly enough, it's filled that spot that has been empty since Veronica Mars. It's fantastic!