Good week

Having a nice time with Katie. She was poking through my freezer and asked if she could have some ice cream. I told her "You can have a spoonful of potatoes, 3 peas, and all the ice cream you'd like" and she immediately started laughing. Won't go into any more detail since my sister reads this :)

Also, watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy -- it was quite good. No, it doesn't parallel the books in any literal sense, it isn't Lord of the Rings by a long shot, but I don't know why so many people were bitching about it when it came out. LOTR is about 10 hours from start to finish if you watch the more understandable Director's Cut versions, while HHGTTG is standard movie-length. It captures the spirit of the books, not the exact plot. If you avoided it because you were led to believe it sucked, go ahead and rent it now that it's on DVD.

This is sort of the same feeling I had with Battlestar Galactica last year -- the second season of which is getting good again. It took a few episodes to really get going, but now I'm again looking forward to what happens next week.

Over There, the HBO Iraq-based military drama, is getting good as well. Honestly, the first episode was marginally entertaining, the second was genuinely bad, and then the third on have each been progressively better. I don't know if the were rushed on the first episodes or just didn't know what they wanted to do, but I suspect a lot of folks were turned off by the lackluster beginning. The big problem is that the stuff happening in Iraq is interesting and occasionally provocative, but all the "drama" happening back home and with the recovering soldier is very blah, cliche, soap-opera crap.

Fortunately I can fast-forward through all the silliness. I honestly don't know if I'd watch it if I had to sit through the "I'm a tough American soldier from the midwest, determined to overcome any obstacle in my recovery, even the alcoholic father who never loved me more than the Army!!!" and "I'm a lonely housewife left behind, is it right of me to drink so much and find pleasure for the night in the arms of another man? If only I would notice my son's pain at seeing me fall apart while his father figure fights for his love thousands of miles away!!"