the best show on tv

i still dont know why people arent watching friday night lights. aside from the fact that its easily the best show on tv, eric and i both recommend it...and we're the two smartest people you know!

this season got away from reality a little bit, like a guy losing his scholarship because he punched someone in a movie theater and took back his apology. lets be serious here...if youre being recruited by a major college program, you can get away with far more than that. case in point. but thats ok, its still great. unfortunately because of some selfish people in tv land that decided they needed to strike----which by the way, i was reading postsecret.blogspot.com one day, and i saw a post where someone had submitted a card saying how they were glad they went on strike, because now this person didnt have to write such pointless crap... ok... so in case that person ever finds this post, here is my response: that "crap" is far and away the most important thing youve ever had to write about in your sorry excuse for a life. and if you hate it so much, quit. find a new job. dont be selfish, because thats all that strike was. 100% selfishness...anyways, that has been bugging me for a while, but back to my story...oh! another side note! unfortunately i didnt save the picture from that postsecret post, so i was searching around on the internet to see if anyone else did, and i found someones blog where they talk about indian food. its nice that you like our food, i like our food too. but please, spell it correctly. its not chicken tiki masala. not like tiki torch. tikka! also its not nan. its naan. please, get it right. ok. NOW back to my story----because of this unfortunate strike, this seasons order of 22 episodes has been cut down to 15. the dvd for season 2 is coming out soon, so those final episodes wont be made this year. there is talk that they will never be made. which is truly appalling.

radar interviewed the nbc entertainment head, ben silverman, about friday night lights:

Radar:Quick question! A lot of us are happy that you've kept Friday Night Lights on the air despite lousy ratings. It's totally the best show on TV. But is there going to be another season?
Silverman: Do you watch 30 Rock? That's the best show on TV.

R:Not regularly. But what about FNL?
S:Start watching 30 Rock. It's the best show on TV.

R:I don't want to watch 30 Rock. I want to watch FNL. I love it.
S:I love it. You love it. Unfortunately, no one watches it. That's the thing with shows. People have to watch them. We're NBC, we have a reputation to uphold. And, man, with this writers' strike ... well, we'll see what we can do. But start watching 30 Rock.

what is that? 30 rock is not the best show on tv. fnl is. i will not, at any point in my life, watch 30 rock. i know eric likes it, but thats not enough for me. hes only half of the duo of smartest people you know. i cannot, and will not, support anything with tracy morgan in it. and what reputation does nbc have to uphold? a show thats critically acclaimed and award winning is bringing the network down? ok, douche, show more of americas fattest fatties and youll be sure to get ratings. good thing ck was already on american gladiators and scrubs is ending. those were 2 of my main reasons to watch nbc this season. if fnl is done, then nbc is dead to me. i dont watch law and order anyways.

some ideas on how to attempt to save the show:
-LIGHTS ON: Send Light Bulbs To NBC To Save Friday Night Lights
-Why We Love Friday Night Lights...And Why We Want to Keep It Around

tv guide's website lists some other possibilities for the fate of the show, which include letting it run on other networks, or dropping it all together, and hoping another network picks it up. either way, as long as its on tv, im ok. espn did a great job with playmakers, so i have no doubt they can take an established show like fnl and let it do its thing.

buffalo wild wings update

I GOT MY SHIRT!! it only took 2 emails! you have no idea how pumped i am. first ck was on american gladiators last night, and now i have my hot wings shirt. hands down, this has been the best week of 2008!

buffalo wild wings

in case you didnt already know... back in august 06 when hill and i were on the east coast, we stopped by a buffalo wild wings near uva when we visited rich. so then when i was hanging out with kristie a few days later, and we saw another buffalo wild wings, i just had to go and compete in the blazin wings challenge...

when you complete the blazin wings challenge (12 of the hottest wings ive ever had in 6 minutes, no drinking or wiping your face), you get a free tshirt and a picture on the wall. i finished my 12 wings in about 5mins 30 seconds. not an amazing time or anything, but still under the 6 minute time limit, so i should have received a tshirt and my picture should be on the wall.. the milford ct store was out of tshirts so i left my address with the manager and he was supposed to mail me a shirt. they did take my picture.

my shirt never came in the mail. kristie said that when she went back, my picture wasnt there either. and since she was in the picture, it should be easy for her to spot. so im 0/2. this was a crushing blow to my psyche, and i still havent been able to get over it in the past year and a half.

i emailed corporate once, after about a month, to ask about my shirt, but no response. so now after talking to brad and jordan at a las vegas buffalo wild wings ive decided to step up my efforts in getting my shirt. so here is my new email to corporate:

Dear Buffalo Wild Wings,

Allow me to tell you my story..

While passing through Connecticut in August '06, I stopped by the location in Milford, CT. While at this store, I completed the Blazin' Wings Challenge. The manager said they were out of shirts, but I could stop by another day and pick one up. I explained that I was passing through and this was my last day in CT. He told me to leave my address and size and he would mail me a shirt. I have yet to receive this shirt.

This has been very traumatizing because upon completing the challenge, I called everyone I knew that might care even a little bit and I told them about my conquest and the shirt that I was to get. Now whenever one of these friends asks about the shirt, I must hang my head in shame and tell them I never got it.

The manager took my picture, but upon another visit by the guest that accompanied me to the Milford store on that fateful August night, it's evident that my picture didnt even make it on the wall.

I am writing to you because I would like my shirt, size L. I expect it in the mail. I have filled out the form above with my address. I would appreciate a speedy resolution to this situation. I will continue to send you this email on a daily basis until I have received my shirt. If you would like to see the pictures I took at the Milford store, please email me and I will gladly send them to you. Thank you for your time and consideration and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Sincerely,

Vishal Naik

i plan on sending this email to them every day until i get a shirt. wish me luck. if you would like to email them as well and request a shirt for me, that would be super.

another vtn update!

added new shows for friday! read the updated post below!

VTN -- midseason changes

edited on 1/12/08.

I seem to be getting decent responses on my television network, so you know what that means? midseason changes... yes, the positive feedback of 2 is enough for me to get a swelled head. plus, with the current work stoppage in television, its nice to pretend..

advertising:

cant be big if nobody knows who you are, so here is my first ad.. i had planned on making some more, but i got lazy. my logo is the 3 lowercase letters with the motion blur behind it.. and as you can see, my tagline is "you dont suck, neither should your TV" because lets be honest here. you dont suck. so why should you get stuck watching ass television? thats right. you shouldnt. you dont suck. we dont suck. its all good, baby!

new programming:

wednesday: the first change is on wednesday, as the lineup is still pretty top notch, so i dont need too many changes. nip/tuck isnt holding its own on a night full of good tv, but i didnt want to put its replacement so late. so instead we will move smallville up an hour and slide in american gladiators in the 8pm slot. at first i didnt want any reality tv, but then nbc cast the silent assassin for their remake of american gladiators. this alone is enough of a reason to put this show on my network and bump a show i enjoy from its time slot. (WATCH IT! 1/21 ON NBC @ 8PM)

thursday: the next change is that weeds and californication get the boot, and chuck moves in to that time slot. second, since how i met your mother has replaced scrubs as the best comedy on network tv, they get switched. aside from that, the weekday prime time is good to go. entourage and nip tuck are on thin ice tho..

friday: on friday at 7pm we're going to add two shows from mojo hd. i dont know who even has mojo hd.. do you? ive never had it, but the planet hollywood resort and casino does, and they have some solid programming. first at 7pm will be pressure cook. its this chef who gets dropped off in some remote city and he has 3 days to make enough money to buy a flight back home. if he doesnt make enough money, he suffers some penalty in order to get his flight back. in the last episode i watched, if he didnt make enough money over his 3 days, his penalty was to eat 3 habanero peppers. 3! so he basically has to find a job at some restaurant and work kind of like an independent contractor and make his own "special" for the evening and then convince enough people to order that for their dinner so that he can make his cash to go home. pretty solid. and at 7:30, we're adding three sheets. which has to be the greatest food related tv show ive ever seen. this dude gets paid to go to random cities and show the rest of the world that cities drinking habits. yup. he travels the world and drinks. thats all that really needs to be said about that one.

weekends..
saturday: just like friday, saturday nights are days that nobody really wants to stay home for. plus you have sports to compete with during the day. in the mornings we'll have reruns of fridays cooking shows, like previously mentioned. and then in the afternoon we'll run reruns of seinfeld, friends, and the fresh prince of bel air. this way if there is no good game on, you can watch a quality rerun and still enjoy yourself. because lets face it, we've all gotten tired of that 42-3 blowout in what was supposed to be a good football game, but you keep watching because your only other alternative is infomercials. now lets go to saturday night. you know what you need for saturday night? a movie to get you pumped. that means there is only one solution: 80s movies! so every saturday at 5 and 7pm we play an 80s movie. we start saturday prime time early so that you can finish the second movie at 9 and still have time to go out.. so here are some 80s movies to take you well into the summer:

karate kid, fast times at ridgemont high, ferris bueller's day off, career opportunities (ok, that came out in 91, but its still awesome), top gun, war games, robocop, tron, short circuit, ghostbusters, teen wolf, back to the future, et, risky business, cocktail, all the right moves, and days of thunder (tom cruise made some great movies before he went crazy). tell me if you saw one of those movies on you'd change the channel. of course you wont. because those movies are awesome. im pumped just thinking about them.

sunday: sunday is the day where you need to recharge. you spend the morning hungover, and there is always the nfl, so we will again rerun the cooking shows in the mornings and run the big three of seinfeld friends and the fresh prince in the afternoon. then we hit primetime, just as you get over your hangover. now you want something that will entertain you for the rest of the evening so you can feel better about going to work the next morning. how do we accomplish that? black movie night. yup. the wood, baby boy, atl, belly, booty call, love and basketball, the best man, undercover brother, and any upcoming movie with lauren london. yup. i cant think of a better way to get me ready for monday again.

and now we have a weekend lineup that's as sweet as the cool evening breeze of anytown, USA.

so long 2007

not gonna lie, 2007 was alright. a nice improvement over 2006, which was a huge improvement over the abysmal 2005. one would hope this trend continues. yep. one would.

i have been gifted with a rather obvious link from eric's blog. i even have a permanent link on his right hand section titled "a glimpse into my feeble mind." wow. ive hit it big. i now know what natalie portman felt like when she won that golden globe for closer. it was just a few short months ago that i decided to ramble about lost and i sent the link to ali and brian. and now i have a permanent home on eric's page and kristie even found it. you know what that means? in just 7 months, my number of readers has doubled. i bet the la times cant claim that!

so now i feel like the pressure is on me to step up the quality. i can not and will not guarantee more posts, because im lazy. i cant really even guarantee that ill make better posts because i just dont have that many thoughts that can be thought of as "quality" or "interesting" or even "not lame." plus there is a distinct trend in this blog... anger.. mainly about sports. that can only take you so far, so maybe i need to broaden the topics that im willing to write about. my feelings, perhaps? no, that will never happen. things that make me happy? william hung. there. got that out of the way.. what else is there to write about? i dont know. so maybe i cant even guarantee more topics. one thing i can try to do is step up the graphic design. i do actually enjoy that. ive even made a new header. however i fear that this might be a temporary change and ill revert back to being lazy. so...in summary... i feel like i need to up the quality, but there is very little that im willing to do about it.

anyways, so long 2007. here's to 08! stay tuned for my first new post of the new year, an update on what seems to be my most popular post of 07. i even have an idea for a second post, which could be good as well. expect big things. HOLLA!

blasphemy

from peter king's ten things i think i think section of this weeks "monday morning qb":

g. Glad to hear from those who think The Office one-ups Seinfeld. Nothing against Seinfeld. But Dwight Schrute and Kramer cancel each other out for comedic brilliance. Michael is funnier than Jerry, Pam a nip better than Elaine, and ... well, there's no one in Scranton who equals Costanza or Newman or Uncle Leo. But Jim, Creed and Angela are pretty perfect characters.

uh. no.

11.25.07

i dont like my job.

the reasons are too many to list (unless im really bored). but eric is correct, those models, they are alright. so these two lovely ladies will make one show (4 days) worthwhile. but the rest of my time at this company? blah..

SPAM

My company just changed our internet provider, and with it went our junk mail filter, so now I am forced to use Outlook's Spam filter, which just piles emails into the junk mail folder instead of automatically deleting them. The email titles... pretty creative. here's a list of some highlights:

"Hottest sluts admit, that larger dicks taste much better..."
"She will moan with utmost pleasure, as your new long dick penetrates her twat"
"need confidence? make your dick big, thats the first step"
"hey cat dick! you can make it much bigger, what are you waiting for?"
"no more squirt squirt whoops love, last longer in bed!"

And my personal favorite:

"the girls wont be laughing anymore when you slap a big dick in their face"

I wonder who makes these titles. Is it automated? Is there a Spam company, where people just sit around and come up with titles for these emails? If so, what kind of people work there? How do you get that job? Does it pay well? Is it considered online advertising? Is the only successful Spam email about enlarging one's male member? I wonder... I do get some advertising fake Rolex's but maybe 1 to ever 15 enlargement emails.

VTN

since the new season of tv shows has just started, i was wondering what would make it onto my network, if i had one. so here's the prime time lineup for the vishal television network.

monday: got a "case of the mondays?" dreading the remainder of the work week? well i think the perfect cure is some comfort tv. not like inspirational stuff, like the biggest loser or that show on abc where they build homes for needy families.. nah, nothing like that, but good shows that are no longer on tv. yup, like comfort food, but not food. tv.

7:00: we're starting mondays early, because so many good shows didnt last long enough. so we start off with playmakers. why? because: I AM...THE INCREDIBLE MAN...I ONLY DO THINGS INCREDIBLE CAN...CAUSE I...I AM...THE SEED OF A CHOSEN BREED YOU DON'T SEE TOO MANY LIKE ME...CAUSE I...I AM...ONE OF THE REASONS THAT YOU DO WHAT YOU DO...WHEN YOU WANNA BE ME INSTEAD OF YOU...CAUSE I...I AM
8:00 : undeclared. yes i know this show only lasted one season and only had 17 episodes, so it would make it hard to stretch that out for the entire monday at 8pm time slot, but we can worry about that later. im sure if i ever did own my own network, and was put in charge of putting things on tv, id be fired within a month. id stick to good shows that nobody watches (this one) and forget about the crap that everyone watches (deal or no deal, survivor, etc.)
8:30 : freaks and geeks. ive never actually seen this show, but im a big enough fan of undeclared to slot this in right after it.
9:30 : sports night.
10:00 : dark angel. so maybe this show wasnt that great, but jessica alba was.
11:00 : deadwood. another 1 hour show, so we're ending mondays late also. but its monday, you need the pick me up, and theres just too much good stuff.

you'll notice that shows such as seinfeld and friends are missing from my prime time comfort tv lineup. well, thats because i would probably show seinfeld on repeat from 11:30pm until 7pm every day.

tuesday: i've been known to like what some can only call "bad" television shows. so those get slotted for tuesday.
8:00 : i wouldnt have cancelled veronica mars if i was a cw exec, so that gets the 8pm slot, because everyone needs some kristen bell in their life.
9:00 : one tree hill. this high school drama decided to skip the college years and have season 5 start as each character is finishing college. thats just great. if you ever run out of ideas you can make up some college life back story. yup. good idea cw. now if this show makes it to season 6, ill probably be surprised. but thats ok. its now on my network and not the cw.
10:00 : i also wouldnt have cancelled the oc. i miss taylor townsend. so that goes in at 10.

wednesday: wednesday would be my main day. gotta have the good shows to help you through hump day.
8:00 : smallville. mmm. lana.
9:00 : friday night lights. hands down the best show on tv. in a nice cushy time slot. finally.
10:00 : lost. ive regained faith after last season's finale.
11:00 : nip/tuck. i forgot about this in the initial line up. i considered dropping some shows to squeeze it in, but i figured the people that watch nip/tuck are probably up at 11 anyways, so that's acceptable.

thursday: thursday is comedy day, time to get my laugh on.
8:00 : californication.
8:30 : weeds. if it gets more political than it already is, then its getting the boot.
9:00 : scrubs. best comedy on network tv.
9:30 : how i met your mother. second best comedy on tv. that fortress of barnitude. awesome.
10:00: curb your enthusiasm. its always entertaining to watch larry through random awkward situations.
10:30 : entourage. going down hill, but still good enough.

and friday is the stuff thats only entertaining when you have nothing to do. nothing that you need to follow along with, you can watch an episode here and an episode there and be all good. because nobody wants to sign up to be home every friday night during prime time. thats just lame.
8:00 : top chef. ok. you need to follow this one. but thats ok, its early in the night on friday, so maybe you havent gone out yet, and why not, lets rerun it on saturday and sunday mornings so you dont NEED to catch the friday night broadcast. but it needs to be more season 2 than seasons 1 and 3. good thing ill be in charge to help pick out the chefs.
9:00 : unwrapped. wildly entertaining look at how your favorite food is made. ok. wildly entertaining might be a bit of a stretch.
9:30 : food 911. i was tempted to go with tlc's take home chef here, but thats a 1 hour show, this is a 30 minute show. tyler florence wins.
10:00 : giada's weekend getaways/semi home made with sandra lee. neither are good enough to secure a permanent time slot, but they are both good enough to make the list. unlike rachel ray.
10:30 : throwdown with bobby flay. i dont really like this show, and its kinda the opposite of iron chef, where the iron chefs always win and advertise for their restaurants, because bobby flay always loses. but thats ok, i like his restaurants, and im hoping putting him on my network equals free food. so he gets the friday night slot.

friday is also cooking night, so if you need to plan ahead for that hot date on saturday night, then youre all good.

and there you have it. the primetime lineup of my very own tv network.

say it aint so, joe

i feel cheated

best in show

as you should know, i eat a lot of chicken. once at benihana's during the summer after high school, i ordered chicken, and ali made some remark about what would i do without that bird. it got a good laugh out of the lin twins. (eric thinks he was the one who made the chicken remark at benihana's, so yeah, maybe it was him) anyways, the reason you should know i eat a lot of chicken is that anyone who even kinda knows me knows i always eat chicken. so if you dont know i always eat a lot of chicken, then you probably dont know me, and if you dont know me, then what are you reading this for? im not that entertaining... anyways, recently on a trip to new orleans, i complained endlessly about emeril's restaurant, and kept saying how much better bobby flay's restaurant is. i feel i might have gotten annoying to the rest of the party. oh well. haha. so ive decided to elaborate on my chicken feelings. here goes:

tacos:
1. alvaros. alvaros in sd off the 15.. they make a killer taco. the reason its so great is that they keep the chicken simmering in spices waiting for you to order it. then they scoop it out and put it in the freshly fried shell and top it off with lettuce and cheese. some other places put bland chicken in a tortilla and deep fry it all. i hate that.
2. el burrito jr. they use some great cheese. i feel like those minor details make or break most foods. cheese. the type of bread used in a sandwich. the way they make their taco shell.
3. red onion.
3a. el gallito is pretty money as well, but i prefer hard tacos to soft tacos.
what kills me about mexican food is the chains like chevy's. who in san diego goes to a place like chevy's or el torrito when you can go to alvaros or sergios or robertos and get food thats 10 times better and pay less per meal.


fried chicken:
1. big mama's soul food and rib shack. big mama's seems to take a lot of heat from my pv friends. its really a shame, because its so good. actually, this reminds me of something, last time we were there on my recommendation, one of our friends decided he didnt trust the food and wasnt going to eat. that shit pisses me off. i understand when you walk into some random place, think its kinda shady, and walk out. thats ok. but when you go to a place recommended by a friend, a place that other people that you know have eaten at, and enjoyed, and still feel unsafe with the food. wtf. would i, or any of your other friends take you to a place where youre at risk to get sick? no because why the fuck would i be there? who are you??? anyways, big mama's. the first couple times i went there the chicken was so juicy it fell off the bone. a sign at big mama's says that if the colonel could cook as well as big mama, then he wouldve been a general. so true. unfortunately, i do feel there has been a slight drop off in the quality of fried chicken from when i first went with brad dave and poon, to when i last went with ali jordan poon and caroline. but it still is the best in its class.
2. the loft. that hawaiian place off hawthorne. yeah. the hawaiian fried chicken is pretty money.
3. i guess it has to be kfc..i feel like if i ever eat at roscoes chicken and waffles, kfc is off the list.

fast food chicken sandwich:
1. chik-fil-a's #1. i know the #1 is a combo, but its their regular chicken sandwich, not the grilled one. mmm. tasty.
2. burger kings's chicken sandwich. the original chicken sandwich maybe? not the old bk broiler, which has now been renamed the chicken whopper. but the processed meat one, thats long, not circular. it has got to be the most unhealthy chicken sandwich ever made, but damn its tasty.
3. wendy's spicy chicken. you know, if i had to grade each of these on a 10pt scale, it would be like 8.5,8,7.5 where as the fried chicken would be like 9,7,5. i guess thats because i go to more fast food places than fried chicken places.

chicken tenders:1. pappadeaux's. sure its a seafood place, and they only have 2 chicken items on the menu, but my god, their chicken tenders are amazing. amazing. soft, tender, juicy. its hard to make juicy chicken. chicken is kinda like eggs. they mentioned on top chef, that something like eggs can really separate truly great chefs from good ones. i feel that way about chicken. its kinda dry almost everywhere you go. but that pappadeaux, my mouth is watering just thinking about those chicken tenders. if only they could get a better honey mustard. honey mustard is a real hit or miss sauce. id say theirs is a little off. but i cant stress how good the chicken is.
2. ribs to go. maybe it was because i had been drinking and i was starving after a rather small overpriced emeril dinner, but after the first bite of that chicken tender i had to stop and gather in how good it was. not as juicy as pappadeaux, but seasoned to perfection. if youre ever in new orleans, and youre drunk and hungry at like midnight, head over to poydras st and check out the food selection they got there. one place is called ribs to go, and you wont be disappointed. chicken, fish, shrimp, fries. its all money.
3. bristol farms makes a pretty solid chicken tender, good meat to breading ratio.

and finally, fancy chicken:1. bobby flay: ive had the pleasure of eating at mesa grill in new york and in las vegas. and both times i was very pleased with my chicken. juicy, flavorful, just amazing. i cleaned the plate, not because it was so small, but because it was just that good. sure bobby flay seems like he'd be a tool, but he knows how to cook.
2. emeril: i went to emeril's in new orleans. i was not pleased. i ate everything on the plate because the plate was so small. i havent really been to many fancy restaurants, so emeril gets #2 by default. sure hed be better to hang out with than bobby flay, but his food was very underwhelming.
3: wolfgang puck: i went to spagos in beverly hills last month, and i just felt ripped off. not only was it more expensive than the other two, it was just plain bad. i honestly felt like i could have gotten better food had i driven to downtown la and found some hole in the wall. the meat was dy and tough. thats not what i want when i pay that much. stupid wolfgang. he must spend all his time trying to find new ways to put his name on supermarket soups and frozen foods, just like what the short chef tried to do with gusteau's name in ratatouille, but at least gusteau was dead and it was someone else whoring out his name. wolfgang is still alive. stupid wolfgang.