Lost

So I'm not totally up on pop culture, but who can blame a dad of 2. But I was well on my way to becoming totally with-it. How? Well, I'll tell you my secret. For the past couple of months, I've been catching up on Lost. That's right! The ABC series that has been on air for about 5 seasons.

abc.com has a viewer where I could watch all the back episodes of Lost whenever I desired. I had seen most of the episodes from season 1, but season 2 and onward were totally blank.

So there I am, being a great consumer and watching the 3 minutes of total advertisements from Tylenol, Aquafresh, Target, and Jack-in-the-Box with my almost-daily dose of Lost. Then today, I go to catch up on Season 3, episode 6 and what do I see? Nothing!!!!

Only season 1 and 5 are now available. No apologies, no site under construction, nothing! Is this how ABC treats loyal freeloaders? I even participated in a couple of surveys they threw at me, just to be nice and give something back to them. Man, that's cold.

I'm hoping that it's only a programming error and someone will fix it soon. But if it isn't, please tell me where I can get the remaining episodes of season 3 and 4. This is how companies encourage piracy. If you left the episode up on your site, made people register, offer them other shows they may like, and basically use them as marketing extensions, we would all be happy.

But, NO! You have to go and yank that stuff off the site and now I have no way of watching it other than a) buying the DVD's (not gonna happen) or b) watch a pirated episode off BearShare or the like.

Still can't believe it.

Yo quiero sanity

It is the summer of celebrity deaths. It started about a month ago and it has not relented, much like the heat in LA. Ed, Farrah, MJ, then it was off to the animals; Billy :P Most recently the chihuahua from the Taco Bell commercials.

What the hell is going on? Don't we have enough newsworthy events in the world that the death of a rat-dog makes the cut at NPR? Yes, everyone needs a little human interest story now and again to feel grateful about our lives. As MLW says every time there's news of sick children/people, "eencher gahn". But I don't need news of a dead rat-dog to make me feel good.

So NPR, please stick with Susan Stamberg reporting on really stupid human interest stories - and I can't believe she was anchoring Morning Edition for all that time - and leave the animal deaths to Fox (no pun intended).

Don't get me started on Susan Stamberg. Story for another time.

Fatherly bias

Glendale offers swimming classes in the summertime to residents - for a nominal fee, I might add. We signed up both girls for several sessions. S is pretty good for her age (4.5) and is in a class with 6 and 7 year olds. She still has to work on her technique, but she can actually swim 10-15 feet, unassisted.

I watched the class go through its routine, and I was proud of S's confidence and comfort in the water. I'm sure my pride was even more pumped when I noticed one of the boys in class swimming as gracefully as an anchor, while my princess seemed to glide through the pool like a dolphin.

It's the little things that make you appreciate what you have. I won't trade that for anything.

Whatevah!

I post with a little trepidation. Mostly, because I fear some might think this a farce, but I assure you that what I'm about to say is true. I started watching Whatever Martha, and I like it! I realize that this is yet another way that MSLO traps people in its web, but I don't care. For those who don't know the show, it's basically MST3K where it's all Martha, all the time.

There are people out there who think Martha is this godlike person. Alexis and Jennifer bring her down to earth and point out that she's human just like us. Well most of us. These girls are funny only because they make fun of Martha. Period. They are not comedians and I bet they would be totally boring to hang out with.

OK now you know what kinda shows ArmoDad is watching nowadays.

Back again?

I can't believe it's been over 6 months since my last post. It's certainly not from lack of material. There is so much fodder just walking around the neighborhood. Mostly, it's lack of time and mental focus that has prevented me from putting finger to keyboard.

I am really enjoying the summer so far. We've been to the beach with the kids several times. We bought a 10x10 canopy with UV protection so the kids can hang out under it. It's a bit awkward to put up, but it does a great job. Even comes in a wheeled tote bag.

I hope to have more time to pound out a couple of funny posts in the near future.