Electric Boogaloo!

When I was a youngster my grandparents agreed to take us to the drive-in to watch Breakin' 2 Electric Boogaloo. I may be completely wrong about this, but I'm pretty sure they weren't a part of the whole break dancing craze back in the 80's. I didn't realize it at the time, but it seems like sometimes you watch movies you could care less about for the benefit of your youngsters. I have gotten used to doing this for the wife(However, the only Twilight movie I'll watch with her has to have Zone attached to it), but now it looks like that will be the case with the kids as well. Thus was the scene with Skyler today. She has been asking to go see Paul Blart Mall Cop for weeks. So, I bit the bullet and took her to see it on opening day. I don't exactly know why she wanted to see it so badly, but think it has something to do with her uncle Jed. Paul Blart(a.k.a. Kevin James) and Jed seem to have some similar qualities and I think subconsciously it has caused Skyler to want to see the movie.

Here is my review of the experience: I didn't see him with my own eyes, but apparently Kevin James was in the crowd. Why else would the audience clap at the beginning and end of the movie? Were they applauding for the guy making the movie fit on the screen? I'll never understand that. There were a couple of scenes where I almost chuckled. Other than that, it was probably as good for me as Electric Boogaloo was for my grandparents. However, Skyler liked it so much that she proclaimed we would buy it when it comes out on DVD.

Staying with the visual media theme, I got home from basketball around 12:30 this morning and hopped into bed a smidgin before 1. I fired up the Tivo and started to watch The Office. The wife rolled over and asked if I had watched My Name is Earl yet. After telling her no she suggested that I watch it first. So I switched to Earl and my love for my wife immediately increased. This is what I saw:


I know that this is just a fake game show, but who wouldn't want to see this actually happen? Terrorists, that's who. The show did leave me with mixed emotions, as it ended with the words "To be continued." I know I will get to see more Ponch, but I'll have to wait a whole week. On a final note, I watched The Office afterward and thoroughly enjoyed it. I especially liked the part where Dwight gets pinned against the fence by a car. I can't imagine anyone doing something like that in real life. Can you, Jed?

We Wasted the Good Surprise on You!

Is it just me, or have commercials been getting worse? I wonder if they think that we are going to skip over them from the DVR anyway, so why bother with good ones. There has been a recent theme in commercials that has grown to irritate me. I present one example of this below:

I have a long running boycott imposed on Carl's Jr., so that may have been a factor in my dislike of this commercial. However, nothing about this commercial rings true. "I'd pay $14 any day for this burger." Really? Then you would be a terrible contestant on The Price is Right. How many people are really willing to pay $14 for a burger by itself? And did he actually pump his fist in the air at the end? Nothing about that situation would require you to get that excited. You just got tricked about something you just ate. You didn't just hit a game winning home run or roll doubles in Monopoly. If that is a real person as they claim, and not an actor, then I declare him to be an idiot.

Sadly, this advertising has been copied. Here is one from Pizza Hut:



Again, the people are excited after being tricked about what they just ate. I'm not buying this as not being staged. Somebody is eating Mac & Cheese with bacon and calling it "decadent"? Well, it is Premium Mac & Cheese(typed with sarcasm). Here is my beef with both of these commercials: You would never be this happy about having eaten something under false pretenses.

I remember in Ecuador one time I was eating what I thought was arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and thinking to myself that the chicken was really rubbery. After I had finished, the people who provided the meal asked if I liked it. I said it was O.K. to spare their feelings. It was after that when they revealed that I had just eaten octopus. I did not start pumping my fist in the air or clapping or get all excited about the trick. It was a good thing that I am not allergic to octopus. It is only about a month until my poor people T.V. will stop working. Maybe I will save myself from these commercials and not buy a converter box.

Since I am talking about commercials that bother me, here is one of my least favorite commercials of all-time (as a side-note, IKEA is also on my boycott list). I thought it had been put to rest at the end of 2007, but it has sprouted back up. I know that Sara loves it when this comes on, solely for the pain it causes me. So, enjoy:

For Sam (My Cousin)

I know you were around on Saturday, but I think you started watching the game after this happened. I know how disappointed you would be if you didn't get to see this. So, enjoy.

Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! Sam! No need to thank me.